וּבָא לְצִיּוֹן גּוֹאֵל
U’va leTziyon Go’el
“A redeemer will come to Zion” — the Qedushah de-Sidra
Sung by Hazzan Daniel Halfon and family. A Western Sephardi home recording.
Text & translation
וּבָא לְצִיּוֹן גּוֹאֵל וּלְשָׁבֵי פֶשַׁע בְּיַעֲקֹב נְאֻם יְיָ. וַאֲנִי זֹאת בְּרִיתִי אוֹתָם אָמַר יְיָ, רוּחִי אֲשֶׁר עָלֶיךָ וּדְבָרַי אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי בְּפִיךָ לֹא יָמוּשׁוּ מִפִּיךָ וּמִפִּי זַרְעֲךָ וּמִפִּי זֶרַע זַרְעֲךָ אָמַר יְיָ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם.
U’va leTziyon go’el, ulshavei feshaʿ beYaʿaqov, ne’um Adonai. Va’ani zot beriti otam amar Adonai: ruḥi asher ʿalekha udvarai asher samti befikha lo yamushu mipikha umipi zarʿakha umipi zeraʿ zarʿakha amar Adonai meʿatta veʿad ʿolam.
A redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression — declares Adonai. As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Adonai: My spirit that is upon you, and My words that I have placed in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children, says Adonai, from now and for ever. (Isaiah 59:20–21)
וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ יוֹשֵׁב תְּהִלּוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל.
Ve’atta qadosh, yoshev tehillot Yisra’el.
And You are holy, enthroned upon the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:4)
וְקָרָא זֶה אֶל זֶה וְאָמַר, קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְיָ צְבָאוֹת, מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ.
Veqara ze el ze ve’amar: Qadosh, qadosh, qadosh Adonai tzeva’ot, melo khol ha’aretz kevodo.
And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is Adonai of hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s glory. (Isaiah 6:3)
The opening of the Qedushah de-Sidra.
About this song
A mosaic of prophetic and psalmic verses (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Exodus, Psalms, and others), each Sanctification verse followed by its Aramaic Targum, recited toward the close of the morning service.
The Sages said the world endures by virtue of this Sanctification. Given here, its opening verses.
In the living tradition
These are not museum pieces. The same songs are sung today at Kehillah Kedoshah Zikhron Zvi, the egalitarian Western Sephardi congregation of the Hudson Valley — the community at the endpoint of the Program’s Sephardi Liturgy project.