to each other honestly. For that, it needs a safe space, allowing for trust. That is what this retreat offers.
I’m a Catholic priest, not a Jew, not a Buddhist. This means, I am under no obligation to engage in liturgies that I don’t understand or can’t relate to. And that goes for other people too. That’s why for me the respect towards the Other-ness of the others was always very important. It was expressed, for example, in the separate prayers for the different religious groups that were part of the retreat program, even when almost everything else is offered collectively. Anyone could visit “the others,” but also find a group with a familiar prayer-language. Sometimes, collective prayers or prayer-paths would form, in which we would express ourselves in our traditions successively.
I will never forget the first time I attended such a collective prayer in front of the Death Wall at Block 11 in Auschwitz I. It was my task to say a Christian prayer. The rabbi blew the schofar. Gosia Braunek knelt in front of the wall, bowed with her forehead touching the ground and turned her hands upwards to the sky. I had never seen this Buddhist gesture before. It impressed me: What can be more appropriate here then bowing deeply to the earth, into which the blood of the murdered sank, while simultaneously seeking contact with Heaven?
Gosia has passed away in the meantime. Herewith, I would like to thank her again.
I have encountered so many beautiful people. My gratitude reaches out to all of them, especially to the founding parents and the pillars that make up the spine of these retreats from the very beginning, Bernie and his “family.” The retreat is not only Bearing Witness – it’s also Building a Civilization of Love …
Germany/Poland
KADDISH
Yit-ga-dal ve-yit-ka-dash sh-mei ra-ba be-al-ma di-ve-ra chir-u-tei,
ve-yam-lich mal-chu-tei be-cha-ye-chon
uv-yo-mei-chon uv-cha-yei de-chol beit Yis-ra-eil,
ba-a-ga-la u-viz-man ka-riv, v’im-ru: a-mein.
Ye-hei she-mei ra-ba me-va-rach le-a-lam ul-al-mei
al-may-ya.
Yit-ba-rach ve-yit-ta-bach, ve-yit-pa-ar ve-yit-ro-mam
ve-yit-na-sei, ve-yit-ha-dar ve-yit-a-leh ve-yit-ha-lal
she-mei de-ku-de-sha, be-rich hu, le-ei-la min kol
bi-re-cha-ta ve-shi-ra-ta, tush-be-cha-ta ve-ne-che-ma-ta,
da-a-mi-ran be-al-ma, v’im-ru: a-mein.
Ye-hei she-la-ma ra-ba min she-ma-ya ve-cha-yim
a-lei-nu ve-al kol Yis-ra-eil, v’im-ru: a-mein.
O-seh sha-lom bim-ro-mav, hu ya-a-seh sha-lom a-lei-nu
ve-al kol Yis-ra-eil, v’im-ru: a-mein.
May the Great Name whose Desire gave birth
to the universe Resound through the Creation
Now.
May this Great Presence rule your life and
your day and all lives of our World.
And say, Yes. Amen.
Throughout all Space, Bless, Bless this Great Name,
Throughout all Time.
Though we bless, we praise, we beautify,
we offer up your name,
Name That Is Holy, Blessed One,
still you remain beyond the reach of our praise, our song,
beyond the reach of all consolation. Beyond! Beyond!
And say, Yes. Amen.
Let God’s Name give birth to Great Peace and Life
for us and all people.
And say, Yes. Amen.
The One who has given a universe of Peace
gives peace to us, to All that is Israel.
And say, Yes. Amen.
(Translated by Rabbi Don Singer and Peter Levitt)
Möge der Große Name, dessen Begehren das Universum gebar,
in der Schöpfung Widerhallen.
Jetzt.
Möge diese Große Gegenwart
euer Leben und euren Tag lenken und alles Leben unserer Welt.
Und sagt: Ja. Amen.
Alle Räume hindurch, Segen, Segen diesem Großen Namen.
Alle Zeiten hindurch.
Wenngleich wir Deinen Namen segnen und preisen,
ihn verklären und erheben,
Deinen Namen, der da ist Heiliger, Gesegneter,
gehst Du weit über unser Lob, unser Lied hinaus,
weit hinaus über alles Trostverheißende. Weit, weit hinaus!
Und sagt: Ja. Amen.
Lasst Gottes Namen Großen Frieden und Großes Leben gebären.
Für uns und alle.
Und sagt: Ja. Amen.
Der Eine, der ein Universum des Friedens geschenkt hat,
schenke uns Frieden, uns und Allem, was Israel ist.
Und sagt: Ja. Amen.
(In Anlehnung an die Übersetzung von Heinz-Jürgen Metzger bearbeitet von Heike Drinkuth)
Peter Levitt
A Midrash on Translating Kaddish
In Jewish tradition, it is said that when a word is articulated, the inherent attributes and meaning carried by the word are released into the world. In Judaic-Christian teachings, the most well-known example of this is found in Genesis, where we are told that when God said, “Let there be light!,” there was light. As spoken by the Creator, the word gave birth to the fact and reality of what it held within.
This teaching was very close to my heart when my dear friend Rabbi Don Singer and I sat down in my studio in Topanga, California to make our translation of Kaddish, knowing that it would be used at the first Zen Peacemaker Order Auschwitz Retreat in November 1996, the very month and year my son would be born. After all, as a poet and translator, I too feel the yearning most writers experience in their effort to find some way for their word to become the thing itself in the hearts and minds of those who hear or read what they have written. I was comforted to know that Don was beside me. A true companion on such a mysterious journey is a good thing to have.
What follows, then, are some notions that Don and I traded across the table as we sought to embed into our translation – almost like secrets told in the dark – some of the mystical meanings of the original Kaddish.
Needless to say, every error and mistaken intention belongs entirely to us. We embrace them with joy.
May the Great Name whose Desire gave birth
I remember how shocked I was to hear Don tell me that the original word could be translated as desire. “Does God have desire?” I asked. Don smiled. “Sure,” he said. “Why not?” “Well,” I said, thinking