By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

Most of the Kinos we recite on Tishah B’Av were written during the devastating times of the Crusades. “Eli Tzion” is a kinah that has a special impact on many people. Perhaps it is because the same mournful tune is used on Mussaf of yom tov when we say, “B’nei veischa k’vatchilah,” but it is this author’s feeling that it is the triple combination of

  • the remarkable words
  • the slow dirge
  • and the rhyme.
  • If any of the three elements were missing, it would not have the same impact. For those not fluent in Hebrew, the translation provided below, in which an effort was made to keep the rhyme, may help bring across the powerful feeling that so many feel when hearing and reciting “Eli Tzion.”

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the palace abandoned and forlorn

    Because of the sins of the flock she had borne

    And for the arrival of the blasphemers that looms

    Into the sanctuary of the Temple’s rooms

     

    Cry for the exile of the servants of G-d

    Who’d sing songs, praise and applaud

    And for their blood, spilled in barrels

    Bursting forth like waters of her channels

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the lyrics of her dances so grand

    Now absent and silent throughout the land

    And for the great hall in which it did stand

    The glorious Sanhedrin, now unmanned

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the daily offering lost to the nation

    And for the Pidyon Bechor’s negation

    And for her vessel’s desecration

    And for the incense altar’s salvation

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    For the children of her kings, let’s cry

    The descendants of David, flying so high

    And for their beauty, now entirely lost

    When her royal crowns were tossed

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the Divine honor now in exile

    At the destruction of temples erstwhile

    And for the persecutor who did scorn

    As she dons her garments torn

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the pounding and numerous blows

    Her noblemen received from their foes

    And for the smashing upon the stone

    The skulls of infants and children not yet grown

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the joyous shouts of the enemy

    Laughing at her misfortune and calamity

    And upon the affliction of free men set apart

    Noble in spirit and pure of heart.

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the sin that she had wrought

    Diverting her from the straight path she had sought

    And for the legions of congregations slackened

    With faces now wrinkled and blackened

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry over the curses of those who abused her

    Multiplying corpses as they pursued her

    And for the sounds of those who blasphemed

    long and hard

    Inside the tabernacle of her courtyard

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Cry for the Name that was profaned

    In the mouth of the tormentor so disdained

    And for the prayer we cry out to You

    Hear our cries, through and through!

     

    Cry, O Zion, and cities around her!

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    Like a woman in labor whose birth pangs confound her

    And like a mournful newly wed bride

    Crying over her groom who died

     

    As reported by Vos Iz Neias