Lipa Lyrics

Click here for the original source of these lyrics.

English Translation Of "A Pasheta Yid"- Track 6 of "A Pasheta Yid"

(Parentises indicate implied words) [Brackets indicate explanations or the yiddish word being translated]

I'm going on this path, since I was born.
In about the same way, but confused and lost.
I go out into the world, from the new generations,
Today, there is a different feel, yet the same Torah.

I will not fall,
I will stay strong,
(I am) from Hashem's generals [in His army],
Eventhough it's a hard world [This phrase goes back on "I will not fall, I will stay strong"].
I'm still not a Tzadik,
But I don't get tired,
I still don't give up,
I am a simple Jew.

And eventhough a Tfilah I don't understand,
I get broken up (yet) I don't leave this [he continues Davening],
Because I'm speaking to Taty [Hashem] in my simple language.
Just like a baby that has no teeth,
And can't speak but can only cry,
What this child wants the mother understands right away.
When one does Hishtadlus [puts in effort],
Who can estimate the worth,
What is in truth a greatness [It appears great to us],
Maybe in Heaven they see it as the opposite [Therefore, maybe even small effort is in reality greater than things that appear great to us].
We are still not a Tzadik, we're not allowed to become tired,
We're still not allowed to give up, You are a simple Jew.

I want to stop asking, and want to understand everything.
Through simple ways, I'd rather go.
I will not weaken myself, I can take small steps,
And accomplish great things, [Lipa in english]: "step by step".

Perhaps I'm not the greatest,
But still I am strong,
I try my best,
Eventhough I can't satisfy everyone.
I fight hard battles, Oiii,
With terrible enemies [the category 3 people],
So that the young Neshamas [souls],
Should grow up Ehrlicha [correctly]. [Lipa does what he does(his thing) to help out the young generation to stay on the Ehrlicha way, although he has to fight the category 3 people all along the way].

Worthless is, the ship's captain,
Without the manpower, to carry out the plan,
Because everyone has a part in this war. [All of Klal Yisrael must be behind the "Captain" of the generation in order to win the fight against evil. No Jew can be left behind].
Even if you are only the cook from this army,
Still I am sure that it is worth it,
"Everyone" takes part in this big victory.

You're not allowed to fall,
You have to remain strong,
(You are) from Hashem's generals,
Eventhough it's a hard world.
I am still not a Tzadik, Still I don't get tired,
I am still not allowed to give up, I am a simple Jew.

[Lipa's New Outlook]

Since I'm going on this path,
It opened up new doors,
It's no longer [B'Erech] approximiate [there's no more doubt],
There's no more confusion and (feeling of being) lost [Lipa then says: [Halevai]: I wish it to be like this].

Yes, you're doing Hishtadlus [putting in effort],
Yes, it's definitely worth it,
It is a big [Gadlus] greatness,
In Heaven it gets listened to,
If you're still not a Tzadik,
You're not allowed to get tired,
You're not allowed to give up,
You are at least a simple Jew.

The Rebbe Reb Zishe used to always say happily,
They [the Heavenly court] will not hit me [hold against me] for not being Melech [Reb Elimelech (the Noam Elimelech), Reb Zishe's brother],
The best that "I" can be, "that's" what they want from me,
I am Lipa, I am not the greatest [Lipa is just being humble at this point],
But I will try my best,
I beg you: Taty [Hashem], help me when I try.

I will not fall,
I will stay strong,
(I am) From Your generals,
Eventhough it's a hard world.
I am still not a Tzadik,
I beg (You Hashem) I should not get tired,
[Lipa talking to himself]:You are still not allowed to give up,
I am a simple Jew.

English Translation Of Shelo Asani Goy- Track 2 of "A Pasheta Yid"

(Parentises indicate implied words) [Brackets indicate explanations or the yiddish word being translated]

The 8th day by the Bris, How nice and beautiful
A small, sweet Yid

The 1st Mitzvah, It makes him shine,
Because now he is a Yid

By 3 years old (he gets) Peyas and he licks off the honey [A custom done to show how sweet the Torah is],
And looking like a Yid

Running in Cheder, Also without a stick [He willing goes without having to be forced, for example, with a stick (thanks to MBL for this P'Shat)],
I love to be a Yid


The father at work amongst goyim,
Conducts himself like a Yid

Time is not wasted with Devarim B'Taylim [Activities to just kill time with],
[S'Past Nisht] It's improper for a Yid

The mother by (in middle of) cooking does not stop thinking,
My kid is growing up as a Yid

The sister and brother are shining in Yiddishkeit,
Oh how good it is to be a Yid

For not, for not having made me a goy, Every Yid says like this,

For not, for not having made me a goy, Every Yid sings like this,

Even when it's hard, the Torah we still keep,

He says all of this, I am [Shtultz] proud to be a Yid.

For not, for not having made me a goy,

[Lipa in english]

"Yes, we say it, full of joy."

For not, for not having made me a goy,

[Lipa in english]

"Yes, we sing it, full of joy.

Although some times it's tough,

The Mitzvahs we all do,

Witnessed by the One Above,

I'm so proud to be a Jew."

Right in the morning before an [or any] elevated prayer,
In the Siddur looks a Yid.

And he concentrates all his thoughts,
To the Creator screams a Yid.

Picked out from amongst the nations,
CHOSEN is the Yid.

[Hashem] separated us [V'Hivdeelunuu] from those who stray,
SEPARATED is only the Yid.

Every Mitzvah and Minhag [custom] is so proper,
Many [Kavonos] thoughts has the Yid.

We speak to the moon, It looks fanatical,
To Havdallah winks a Yid.

But we Yiden know for sure,
What is required of a Yid.

In every action there is something higher,
That can be felt only by a Yid.

For not, for not having made me a goy, Every Yid says like this,

For not, for not having made me a goy, Every Yid sings like this,

Even when it's hard, the Torah we still keep,

He says all of this, I am [Shtultz] proud to be a Yid.

For not, for not having made me a goy,

[Lipa in english]

"Yes, I say it, full of joy."

For not, for not having made me a goy,

[Lipa in english]

"Yes, I sing it, full of joy.

Although some times it's tough,

The Mitzvahs we all do,

Witnessed by the One Above,

I'm so proud to be a Jew."

Oh how good it is to be a Yid, Oh how good it is to be a Yid, Oh how good it is to be a Yidela,
Oh how good it is to be a Yid, Oh how good it is to be a Yid, Oh how good it is to be a Yidela,

For not, for not having made me a goy, Every Yid says like this,

For not, for not having made me a goy, Every Yid sings like this,

For not, for not having made me a goy,

[Lipa in english]

"Yes, we sing it, full of joy."

For not, for not having made me a goy,

[Lipa in english]

"Yes, I say it, full of joy."

For not, for not having made me a goy,

I am proud to be a Yid.

English Translation Of Wake Up- Track 9 On "A Pasheta Yid"

As I said previously, Lipa's new cd is one big rocked up mussar vort. I hope the english speaking public can use this translation to learn the mussar of the song and not only relate the song to waking up in the morning; but to apply it to their daily lives where they also have to WAKE UP from the yetzer hara.
Click here to listen to the song while reading the translation:



(Parentises indicate implied words) [Brackets indicate explanations or the yiddish word being translated]
Alarm Clock beeps.......... Lipa hits the snooze button............ It beeps again........... The phone rings........
Lipa's father: "Lipa, Get up to read Shema. It's late. The Z'man K'riyas Shema is soon; a few minutes. Please, Get up quick to read Shema, Lipa.

[Yetzer tov speaking]:

Wake Up, i'm telling you again,
Wake Up, i'm begging you again,
Wake Up, don't allow yourself again (to be influenced), from the yetzer hara.

Wake Up, i'm telling you again,
Wake Up, i'm begging you again,
Wake Up, don't allow yourself again (to be influenced), get up already.

[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm telling you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm begging you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, don't allow yourself again (to be influenced), from the yetzer hara.

[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm telling you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm begging you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, don't allow yourself again (to be influenced), get up already.

[Yetzer hara speaking]:

Outside it's cold,
You're young not yet old, [old people tend to get up earlier than young people]
Continue sleeping under the covers.
Look at the clock,
You didn't sleep enough,
Go right back to sleep.
There is a Z'man Tfilah,
At a later time,
And besides, your clock is a broken one,
If you go to shul,
You'll be there all alone,
[OH] Aiiii, this sleep is good.

[Yetzer tov speaking]:

[Lipa, in a begging tone] Wake Up, i'm telling you again,
Wake Up, i'm begging you again,
Wake Up, don't allow yourself again (to be influenced), from the yetzer hara.

[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm begging you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm telling you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, Get up, Get up already.

Wake Up, i'm telling you again,
[Shty Oif] Get up, i'm warning (you) again, [Shty Oif] Get up, Nuuu, Come on, don't listen again to the yetzer hara.
Wake Up, i'm telling you again,
Get up, i'm begging you again, Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up already.

[Yetzer hara speaking]:

Outside it's hot,
The sweat is flowing,
Chatzois (noon) is late,
Don't rush to davening.
It's warm in shul,
At home it's cool,
You can still sleep alot.
Your Chavrusa is not there,
He was by a vort,
Yesterday, he joined a nice simcha,
Think like a Jew,
You have to be well rested,
Sleep and don't be tired.

[Yetzer tov speaking]:

Run like a deer, and be strong like a lion,
It's already morning, Hurry up.

[Shty Oif] Get,Get Up Already, Get,Get Up Already, Get,Get Up Already, Get Up Already, Get,Get Up Already, Get,Get Up Already, Get,Get Up Already, Don't listen to him [the yetzer hara].

[Lipa speaking]:

In winter, in summer,
The satan comes at all times,
At home, in hotels, in my dormitory room.
From there he runs to heaven,
And makes such a tumult,
"Look how he's taking a nap." [satan's accusation about the person]

[Yetzer hara speaking]:

It's hot in the street,
Don't make a fool out of yourself,
Don't be a frummy,
And go out of your mind.
The streets are all wet,
The grass and trees are white [from snow],
It's raining, it's cold, it's snowing, it's icy.

[Lipa speaking]:

There is a war,
In every neshama [soul],
And both yetzers are busy,
The yetzer hatov, tells us "Get up,
Look up to the Creator."
Afterwards, the satan comes, he wants to advise us,
He always comes up with new ideas,
If you are smart, give him a zets [punch, slam],
And don't fall in his net.

[Yetzer tov speaking]:

Run like a deer, and be strong like a lion,
It's already morning, Hurry up.

Come on Get up,
I beg you Get up,
I gratefully thank You, O living and eternal King...... [First morning prayer, said upon arising],

GET UP!!!
GET UP!!!
GET UP!!!

Little Neshamela Lyrics

One of my favorite Jewish songs.

Come with me little Neshamela,
Let me hold you in my hand, & we'll fly away you and I together,
To a place down on the land.

Come with me little Neshamala,
Don't shy away, do as you're told,
There's a little child, waiting to be born today,
You're to be his spark, his soul.

Chorus: But Dear Malachel No I don't want to go,
There is so much pain & evil, upon the earth below,
Let me stay her up in heaven, were its safe & I'll be pure,
Please don't make me go away, can't you see I'm so afraid.

Come with me little Neshamela,
Its time you faced, your destiny,
As we fly beneath the clouds now, I will show you,
There so much you can be.

Chorus: 
Yes Dear Malachel I can see kedush over there,
Look someone's learning Torah there's another deep inù
I will stay here if you answer me, so I need to know,
You must promise me dear friend, I to will be like them.

Come with me, little Neshamela,
Oh it's a task that I must do,
As I tap you on the lip you will forget me,
You're on your own, its up to you.

Come with me, little Neshamela,
Let me hold you in my hand, & we'll fly away you and I together,
To a place above the land.

Chorus: 
But Dear Malachel No, I don't want to go,
I'm not ready to go with you, were you take me I don't know,
Let me stay right were I am, there's so much more I need to do,
Please don't make me go away, can't you see I'm so afraid.

Come with me, little Neshamela,
I've only come to take you home,
There is no need to fear your destination,
Earn the place right by the throne

A Place right by the throne

Aaron Razel's Where I played last Summer

Where I played last Summer
Words and melody by Aaron Razel

Verse 1:
"So where did you play last summer?"
The masses ask me.
"We saw you there with a guitar, on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea.
How did you get in? How did you get out?"
How was I taken out, to be exact…
It's already winter and it still chokes me up.

I performed with a friend in a park where children will no longer play…
I performed on the grass, how the youth danced… today only winds frolic between the splinters…
We danced together with families around the Shabbat table, homes filled with love and light…
All of this didn't touch/move*1 the bulldozer.

I passed by an empty house, outside sat a woman full of tears that don't understand…
I looked inside and noticed that the people (who packed up their things) managed to write something on the walls before they left.
And no one will ever read what they wrote, because the house was turned into a pile of bones, into a pile of ruins*2.
The writing is on the wall.

Chorus:
So don't ask me where I played last summer
And what I did there on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea
Between the Lamentations and the Psalms, songs of faith and trust
We sang over and over again until the last moment, the verse and the chorus…

They destroyed the verse/house – the chorus was left*3
Here the chorus crawls between the ruins of concrete
They destroyed the verse/house – the vision was left
They destroyed the walls, the air was left where the window once was, where the dream once was, you can still look out and dream.


Verse 2:
I passed by fences and blockades with my guitar, I said to them (the guards)
"I'm just smuggling in some happy sounds to people going through hard times."
And I played so much that I busted my strings and I don't have the strength, until today, to put new ones on…
And you can play, even when the strings get ripped, if you can rip people from their homes…
Our heart is still ripped to shreds.

I came to a group of teens, I brought them drums and sweets, it was late…
They didn't want anything, just sat around me but they weren't really there, trying hard not to look at tomorrow
Because their home was packed up and their parents had already left, so where does that put them in the world?
I returned to my wife, who was waiting in the car, and we drove to Shirat HaYam*4.

Chorus:
So if already you asked where I played last summer,
I was there on the beaches of the Meditarranean Sea
Between the lamentations and the Psalms, songs of faith and trust
We sang over and over again until the last moment, the verse and the chorus…

They destroyed the verse/house – the chorus was left*3
Here the chorus crawls between the ruins of concrete
They destroyed the verse/house – the vision was left
They destroyed the walls, the air was left where the window once was, where the dream once was, you can still look out and dream.

Verse 3:
But yesterday I saw how they're building a new park right next to my house, right in front of my eyes
And when I played a quiet song for the expellees the next day, they said "give us something upbeat, we wanna dance til the heavens!"
The simple faith that all comes from His hand, gives us the joy…
How can you be sad when you look and see how Jerusalem is growing and being built!


Translation notes:

*1 = didn't "reegesh" – didn't emotionally move – the bulldozer
*2 = here he quoted the Bible, using the words of the prophets to describe mass destruction
*3 = the word in Hebrew "bayit" means both home/house, as well as verse. He's punning that.
*4 = the name of one of the communities of Gush Katif. It means "the Song of the Sea" and is a reference to the Song the Jews sang after crossing the Red Sea

Aaron Razel's A New Path

A New Path


Verse 1:

The only thing I remember is that I found myself going down the steps of some alley in Tsfat.
A person invited me to stay at his house and I never thought that already the next day
I'd be hunched over a shtender learning gemara with Yehoshua trying to understand the pshat.
I open the door and in front of me stands the Rosh Yeshiva, what grace, what a glance

"I've always had a lot of love inside of me" I say
"but our generation could use a little reverence."
Instead of going to India I came here – I'm looking for refuge from my ego.
Here too you can walk around in a sharwal*1 and see how time passes so slowly.

Chorus:

I didn't know what is pulling me and where it all leads
I felt light, that something good is beginning, something out of the ordinary
Like a caterpillar getting its wings how can I explain the feeling?
Maybe this is what Rabbi Nachman meant when he said:

"When I walk down a new path that no man has ever walked down before
Even though it is an ancient path, it is completely new."

Verse 2:

Chavruta before netz, go to mikvah at Sanz after having coffee
Daven netz at Abuhav*2 a guy with a turban hands out cookies and tea
And from there between the alleys and the fog to the yeshiva, these are the paths of Nehardea*3
And oh how we sang 40 times "lernen Torah iz beser den Olam Haba
Olam Haba iz a gutter zach, lernen Torah iz der best zach…"

To learn Torah takes self-sacrifice, you have to make it penetrate into your heart
"Torah's like a woman," the Rabbi said "if you leave her for one day, she'll be offended for two."
This is the gym of the Jewish mind, we scream it at the top of our lungs
I suddenly remember university – once I forgot to whisper, what a glare I got from the librarians…

Chorus:

I didn't know what is pulling me and where it all leads
I felt light, that something good is beginning, something out of the ordinary
Like a caterpillar getting its wings how can I explain the feeling?
Maybe this is what Rabbi Nachman meant when he said:

"When I walk down a new path that no man has ever walked down before
Even though it is an ancient path, it is completely new."

Verse 3

In the afternoon they take me to an old house, Eliyahu is on the sofa
Holding a flute in his hand, he's not playing, playing music for him is like prophecy
No coercion, no decision, the key word here in Tsfat, please be acquainted with the word "flow."
But when it comes he throws you straight into the Chamber of Melody.

All of me is enchanted after years of courses and cafeterias
The culture of "another degree and another achievement" it made me almost hysterical
Eliyahu grabbed me in the yard just as he was tying his donkey to the entrance
"put aside everything you learned over there" he said "discover the wellspring that's within."

And what did I learn there? Always try to be happy
"from where will my help come?"*4 this is not a question, to be "nothing/from where"*5 is not a simple task*6
"There is no despair" yelled our Rabbi and I too into the canyon
And my own voice answered me and I understood to what extent I am not alone…

Translation notes:

*1 = yoga pants (in hebrew)
*2 = an ancient mystical (and beautiful) synagogue in Tsfat.
*3 = a reference to one of the 3 major yeshivot in Babylon. I also think the name means "the river of knowledge."
*4 = verse from Psalms
*5 = pun on the word "ayin" which can mean 2 things (when spelled with an alef) either 1. where or 2. nothingness.
*6 = this is the Baal Shem Tov's exegetic interpretation of this verse of Psalms.

Aaron Razel's Inner Light

Inner Light

A child who crawls
Like a youth that prays
Like me, yearns for closeness to G-d

A child who cries
Like a youth who waits
Like me, yearns for closeness to the Creator

He still isn't walking, still not speaking, tries to hold the key
That slips between his fingers that are wet with milk

The inner light in his eyes
All his life is ahead of him
He yearns for the candle that used to burn above his head*1.

A child who laughs
A youth who controls himself*2
I've caught the key – it slips away again.

The child sits up
The youth starts to calculate
And I've been yearning for the Teshuva of the heart for a long time

And like the child who tries to catch but doesn't succeed
Ratzo va'shav*3 – we come closer and we grow farther

To the inner and hidden light
Life between the forbidden and the permitted
I yearn for the simple and good laugh.

Now in my arms
A few more years on my shoulders
He sits calmly on my lap and smiles

He's living the now
I recognize my face in his
He lights the inner parts of my soul
With the light of his smiles

And like the child who's soothed by sitting on his father's lap
Our soul doesn't get soothed til we get there*4

The world's inner light
Life He gave to us all
The G-d who yearns for Man

Translation notes:

*1= reference to the Midrash about the life of a fetus. It is described as sitting inside the womb with an angel, learning Torah by the light of a candle over his head.

*2= "mit'apek"

*3= the Kabbalistic term for the tension within relationship with G-d. We cannot exist on the level of ecstatic bliss constantly (just as a person is not capable of running endlessly) yet we cannot be torpid either. There is the ecstatic state and then a necessary regression to "rest," to the mundane and then a return to the extraordinary.

*4= to heaven

Aaron Razel's Connected to You

Connected

I want to be connected
To be connected to you
I want to be connected to you HaShem
I want to be connected to you HaShem
As long as I'm alive and breathing.

Want to be connected to my home and my children
Want to be connected to the sound of my footsteps
Want to be connected to my prayers and tears and words
Want to be connected to my land

Connected to my soul that is part of you
Connected to my body that will yet return to the earth
Want to be connected to my heart that pumps joy inside of me
Endlessly beat after beat

I want to be connected
To be connected to you
I want to be connected to you HaShem
I want to be connected to you HaShem
As long as I'm alive and breathing.

Want to be connected to the piercing thorns
Just like I'm connected to the blossoming flowers
Want to be connected to the voices of my children that mix with
The flow of the chilly spring waters

Connected to every bite I take from the fruit that You give me
Want to be connected to every drop of water that I drink
Want to be connected to the man that's never heard of You
And to the man that prays to You and weeps and prays and weeps

Want to be connected when my little son calls me "father"
And when my mother asks me "where were you my son?"
Want to be connected to the moment that they destroyed Your house
And to the moment that you asked me "where are you?*1"
Where are you? Where are you?

Here I am*2, here I am, here I am Father, Here I am.

Want to be connected to you when I'm surrounded by a noisy crowd
When I'm standing and don't know why and where and when
Want to be connected to the man in the street who's asking
For a penny or two
But really what he's asking for is closeness
And you wanted him to specifically stop me here in this alley

Want to be connected to the window that was left open
To the brave man that was carried off by the wind
Connected to the tears that flowed from the eyes of my forefathers
And to the joy of the one who will follow after me

So don't cut me off*3
I want to be connected to You HaShem

And if You hug me
I want to stay connected to You

Want to be connected to You.

Translation notes:

*1 = he uses the word "ayeka" which is how G-d asked a hiding Adam where he is, in order to engage him in discussion about the fruit. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi also says that one must ask himself this question always. It is not a geographical question but a spiritual one. "Where are you at? On which rung on the ladder of spiritual growth?" Aaron is certainly using this context for the word.

*2 = he uses the word "Hineni" – the answer the Bible puts in the mouths of all of its heroes (Abraham, Isaac etc etc) when they accept the challenge before them.

*3 = he uses the word "tenatek" which means to cut off or if we put it differently - to disengage. This is a reference (response?) to the Hitnatkut/Disengagement of 2005.