64. Open Your Gate

Sarah Cohen. Recorded by Barbara Johnson, Kochi, January 18, 1977. CD Track 32; IV-11.

Yā nindě vātal ñān taṭṭuṃboḷ tuṟakkeņamě
Saṃkṣamattiṅgal ěrakkunna avadhikku tuṟakkeņam

1. O Yah, when I knock, knock upon Your gate, open it for me.
In Your presence I beg, from my emptiness: oh, hear my plea.

2. Please accept my prayers as an offering, reaching out to You. 
May they substitute, in place of the lamb, in place of the meal.

3. The movement of my lips, the light of mine eyes, examine carefully.
If any sin You find, Your forgiveness give; in mercy pardon me.

4. My mind I lift up, lift it up to You, and also lift mine eyes.
To hear and to see, please incline Your ears; open Your eyes to me.

5. Oh, listen to my voice of lamentation; oh, hear my cries.
Please accept my prayers; oh, accept them please as a sacrifice.

6. Listen to my words; to these words attend, and answer my cries.
To the People here, in our suffering—open Your eyes.   

7. Oh, please look and see how my will to hope has grown weak inside.
Feeble is my strength, and it wastes away; my spirit is slight.

8. Compassionate One, before You we have sinned, O merciful God.
O Sadhakan, Your pardon bestow; grant comfort and relief.

9. Your mercy bestow, bestow upon me, upon the refugee.
Oh, send us, we pray, to the spacious land, far away from grief.

10. To our place of old, where the Temple stood, the Beit HaMikdash—
Bring us to that place, to the land of joy, of pleasure and delight.

11. Oh, please let us rest, rest in our own land, there to be free—
Established in peace, safely dwelling there, with security.

12. All our faults erase, wipe our sins away, and all our crimes.
O Yah, please atone, in Your great mercy, for our selfish pride.

13. Toward You I aspire, unto You I plead: send us by Your grace,
Freed from the straits of our suffering, to that spacious place.

14. O Master of the world, and the universe, unto You I turn.
Your People please protect; helpless as we are, keep us safe from harm.

15. The Temple build again, and always may it be that over it You reign.
May Your splendor shine; over Siyon shine—forever may it shine.

16. The people of both worlds—together may they stand, stand in praise of You.
May it be declared that dominion of the world belongs alone to You.

17. Open now the gate, the gate that hears our prayer; now open it wide,
And let us hear the sounds, the voice of happiness, the sounds of delight.

This is a close Malayalam translation of She‘areikha, the first bakashah in the daily Hebrew prayer book used by all the Kerala Jewish communities (Sefer Tefilat haḤodesh 1931, 13). It is sung to the Hebrew melody. Recorded in 1977 by Sarah Cohen of Paradesi-Kochi, it is found in notebooks from Kochi, Ernakulam, and Parur.