LYRIC
YANKEL- Journeys- Composed By Abie Rotenberg- Journeys 2
In a little town somewhere in Europe
Just about a hundred years ago,
Lived a simple man his name was Yankel
And this is how his story goes.
Yankel couldn’t learn a blatt gemara
Why, he barely knew to read and write,
Deep in his heart he loved to do the mitzvos
But somehow he never seemed to get things right.
He didn’t know his brachos, couldn’t say shema by heart
He’d daven shmoneh esrei with his feet spread wide apart,
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
Here comes Yankel Am Ha’aretz, could there be, a bigger fool.
All the children would make fun of Yankel
Teasing him as if he were a child,
But he never ever lost his temper
On his face there was always a smile.
Now the Rabbi tried to learn with Yankel
So the young man would know how to cope,
In one ear but then out the other
The Rabbi gave up, there simply was no hope.
His ivreh was atrocious, the place he’d always lose
He’d show up on Yom Kippur wearing shiny polished shoes,
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
Here comes Yankel Am Ha’aretz, could there be, a bigger fool.
Stubborn Yankel, he just kept on trying
They all told him it’s a hopeless cause,
But he kept saying one day I’ll know how to
Learn the Torah and keep its laws.
Now one night the Rabbi fell asleep in shul
Only to wake up when he heard a sigh,
It was Yankel by the aron kodesh
And there were teardrops running from his eyes.
He was saying “Master of the world, I know You hear my prayer
And I accept my fate in life, Your judgment’s always fair,
Yet one thing I must ask You, where else am I to turn
Could I not serve You so much more if I knew how to learn?”
The rabbi sent Yankel to learn in yeshiva
They all thought he’d lost his sanity,
He’ll be back in a week for certain
All the Rabbi said was- wait and see.
Yankel’s now a famous scholar, it just took a few short years
For the gates of heaven never close, they never close for tears,
And everyone stands to shake his hand as he passes them in shul
Here comes Yankel Talmid Chacham, how could we… have been such fools!