In Zaltsikn Yam

In Zaltsikn Yam (In the Salty Sea, Yiddish: אין זאַלטציקן ים‎) also known as In Zaltsikn Yam Fun Di Mentshleche Trern (In the Salty Sea of Human Tears, Yiddish: אין זאַלטציקן ים פֿון מענשליכע טרערן‎), or Tsum Bund: In Zaltsikn Yam Fun Di Mentshleche Trern is a Yiddish poem written by S. Ansky in 1901, that became a popular Yiddish song when music was added to it.[1] The poem and song is dedicated to the socialist, General Jewish Labour Bund.

Part of a series on the
Jewish Labour Bund
1890s to World War I
Interwar years and World War II
After 1945
Branches
People
Press
Associated organisations
Splinter groups
Communist Bund
Categories
  • Bundism
  • Jewish history
  • Socialist parties

Recordings
  • "Once upon a time" (Amol Iz Geven A Mayse), compiled and narrated by Joseph Mlotek
  • "In Love And In Struggle: The Musical Legacy Of The Jewish Labor Bund", featuring Zalmen Mlotek, Adrienne Cooper, Dan Rous with The New Yiddish Chorale & The Workmen's Circle Chorus

Lyrics

Yiddish:

(First and part of second lines only)
אין זאַלטציקן ים פֿון די מענטשלעכע טרערן, געפֿינט זיך

English Transliteration:[2]

In zaltsikn yam fun di mentshlekhe trern
Gefint zikh a shreklekher thom,
Er ken shoyn nit tifer, nit fintsterer vern,
Im tseykhnt a blutiker shtrom.

Dem thom hobn toyznter yorn gegrobn
Emune in sine un payn,
Un toyznter yorn, alts tropn nokh tropn
Es gisn zikh trern arayn.

Der arbeter ver vet endlekh derleyzn
Fun hunger un eybiker layd ?
Un ver vet dem veg im tsu frayhayt bavayzn
Tsu brudershaft, glaykhkayt un freyd ?

Der arbeter vet di velt i bafrayen i heyln,
Er vet dergreykhn dem thom bizn grunt,
Zol leben fun Rusland, fun Lite un Poyln,
Der Yidisher Arbeter Bund.

English:

Beneath the salt sea of humanity's weeping
A terrible chasm abides
It couldn't be darker, it couldn't be deeper
It's stained with a bloody red tide

And thousands of years have created this chasm
Of piety, hatred, and pain
And for thousands of years all humanity's weeping
Flows like a limitless rain

Yes where are the ones that will stand at the ready
To dive in the chasm and fight
Yes, who will at last free the work from slavery,
Give hunger its final relief?
And who will be guiding the pathway to freedom,
To brotherhood, justice and peace?

The new Jewish worker the banner will carry
To signal that justice is done
The world will be freed and be healed by this hero,
Who dives to the root of its wound.
In Russia, in Vilna, in Poland all hail now
The Great Jewish Worker’s Bund!

The entire Yiddish original and a more complete translation can be accessed here: https://yiddishkayt.org/the-salt-sea/.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-10-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. http://web.me.com/bruxx/Hemshekh/Downloads.html
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