19. As You Stand Before Us (Saturday Night Bride Song)

The introduction to songs 18–20 is available here.

Sarah Cohen, Seema Salem, Ruby S. Hallegua. Recorded by Barbara Johnson, Kochi, January 1977; II-4.

Muyiṃbāyi nikkunna tāṃbirāně
Mŏtalāyiṭṭŏḷḷě isṟāelikk

1. As You stand before us, Lord Tambiran, You Who existed before Israel,
O most blessed Tambiraně, all of the time we are blessing You.
There is no one like You, Tambiranĕ, Who gave us our food and also our rest.
For Your boundless kindness, Tambiraně, with our boundless praise may You be blessed.

2. You are lacking nothing, Tambiraně. We are Your servants with all our flaws.
With strength You created us, Tambiraně, created the world and all that is alive;
Food in abundance You gave to everyone, and drink in plenty You gave to us too.
For Your generosity may You be blessed; may You be blessed with our boundless praise.

3. To a flawless kingdom: together bring us there, gathered in purity, without any flaws.
This land of boundless beauty, Tambiraně, we, Your servants, are longing to see,
Lord who gave us freedom, Tambiraně, we who were slaves are now set free.
In the land of milk and honey, Tambiraně, may You be blessed with our boundless praise.

4. Bring us to that land, Tambiraně. May abundant goodness and glory come.
May the shining mikdash be raised again. May it be raised, Tambiraně.
With quarrels put behind us, let us unite. Bring us together into the utmost light, 
Gathered in brilliant Yerushalayim. May you be blessed with our boundless praise.

5. Creator of the world, Tambiraně, in Your gracious mercy, gather us now.
Please give hope to dejected Israel. Show us Mashiyah, the one we long to see. 
Most holy and pure Tambiraně, joyfully bless us with goodness, we pray.
You, the Source of goodness, Tambiraně, may You be blessed with our boundless praise.

6. The overflowing table without any lack—may it be abundantly blessed.
Like all Your blessings for the Patriarchs, like all the blessings that You gave,
Bless all of us who are assembled here. With nothing lacking may we be blessed.
Foremost God, Tambiraně, with our boundless praises may You be blessed.

Deśappĕṭaveņam tāṃbirānĕ
Nanma varatteņam pĕriyavanĕ

7. Bring us to the land, Tambiraně. Send to us goodness, Almighty One.
Send to us redemption, Lord Tambiran, and for our bodies, send us good health.
As soon as can be, send us the Man; send us the one whom we are waiting for.
Remember to raise those buried underground. Please do not forget them, Lord Tambiran.

This adaptation of the Hebrew “Blessing after Food” is found mostly in notebooks from the three Kochi communities, plus two from Parur. In some books its heading reads, “Saturday Night Bride Song,” reflecting Paradesi customs for celebrating the marriage ceremony on Sunday.^[1]  

When Ruby Daniel translated the Malayalam song in 1997, she explained that it was sung to accompany the elaborately dressed bride in procession at the end of Shabbat on “Bringing-down night” (erukkunna rav), called by that term because the bride was brought from her house to the house in which she was to stay until the day of the wedding. From Daniel’s fuller description of the evening's events (Daniel & Johnson 1995, 179)—and also from the song’s adaptation of the Hebrew blessing—it seems clear that the song was performed not only during the procession of the bride but also after a festive meal. Sarah Cohen, one of the singers, told me that the song was for a special meal for the bride on the Shabbat after the wedding. The song’s text contains many references to messianic hopes for the future, with no particular reference to the wedding or the bride.

When this song was recorded in 1977 by Sarah Cohen and the two others, they used the same two melodies that they used for Song 18, as discussed above.

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^[1] The other Kerala Jews traditionally celebrated weddings on Tuesdays, which was apparently the earlier practice for Paradesis too, according to the Paradesi elder Samuel Hallegua (Gamliel 2009, 141).