LYRIC
SFASHKENAZ- Journeys- Composed By Abie Rotenberg/Traditional Chassidish- Journeys 4
My name is Klonymos Kalman Fried
You can see I’m a chassidishe yid,
I live on 16th and 53rd,
Could there be a better place
To live in the whole world.
But my life is different than it was before
Because a new neighbor just moved in next door,
He looks and sounds different, a richteger Sefardi,
So I’ll ignore him, and he’ll ignore me!
I look forward to Shabbos, to come grace my home,
And the spirit of Kedusha it brings,
Most of all I love Zemiros to chant with my son,
And this old tune from Satmar we sing:
בָּרוּךְ קֵל עֶלְיוֹן, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן מְנוּחָה
,לְנַפְשֵׁנוּ פִדְיוֹן, מִשְּׁאֵת וַאֲנָחָה
וְהוּא יִדְרשׁ לְצִיּוֹן, עִיר הַנִּדָּחָה
.עַד אָנָה תּוּגְיוֹן, נֶפֶשׁ נֶאֱנָחָה
…הַשּׁוֹמֵר שַׁבָּת, הַבֵּן עִם הַבַּת
.לָקֵל יֵרָצוּ, כְּמִנְחָה עַל מַחֲבַת
My name is Rachamim ben Salomon,
I grew up and lived my whole life in Cholon;
My company sent me to live in Brooklyn,
They said I’ll be happy there, ‘sham yesh yehudim’!
But my next door neighbor, seems strange in my eyes
He wears a fur hat, when it’s “Hamsin” outside,
He looks and sounds different, ‘meod hasidi’
So I’ll ignore him, and he’ll ignore me!
I look forward to Shabbat, to come grace my home,
And the spirit of Kedusha it brings.
Most of all I love Zemirot to chant with my son,
And this old tune from Kushta we sing:
בָּרוּךְ קֵל עֶלְיוֹן, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן מְנוּחָה
,לְנַפְשֵׁנוּ פִדְיוֹן, מִשְּׁאֵת וַאֲנָחָה
וְהוּא יִדְרשׁ לְצִיּוֹן, עִיר הַנִּדָּחָה
.עַד אָנָה תּוּגְיוֹן, נֶפֶשׁ נֶאֱנָחָה
…הַשּׁוֹמֵר שַׁבָּת, הַבֵּן עִם הַבַּת
.לָקֵל יֵרָצוּ, כְּמִנְחָה עַל מַחֲבַת
“Tatty, do you hear the song from next door?”
“It sounds like a niggun, I’ve heard somewhere before.”
“Abba shamata, hashira mimul?”
“Why, why, it’s our Zemer from Istanbul”!
We now are good friends, which I guess is no chiddush
And you should see how I taught Rachamim Yiddish,
Our wives are now soulmates, the kids love to play
And Kalman now eats one big bowl of couscous every day.
We look forward to Shabbos, to come grace our home,
And the spirit of kedusha it brings,
Most of all we love zemiros to chant with our sons,
And this old tune from somewhere we sing:
בָּרוּךְ קֵל עֶלְיוֹן, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן מְנוּחָה
,לְנַפְשֵׁנוּ פִדְיוֹן, מִשְּׁאֵת וַאֲנָחָה
וְהוּא יִדְרשׁ לְצִיּוֹן, עִיר הַנִּדָּחָה
.עַד אָנָה תּוּגְיוֹן, נֶפֶשׁ נֶאֱנָחָה
…הַשּׁוֹמֵר שַׁבָּת, הַבֵּן עִם הַבַּת
.לָקֵל יֵרָצוּ, כְּמִנְחָה עַל מַחֲבַת