Saturday, September 26, 2009

Hashkiveinu

This summer I took two classes of Hebrew. One of the best parts of Hebrew is that it was obviously created by a fellow left-hander! No more smearing my writing while I drag my hand through the letters I had just scribbled, no more curving my wrist in a feeble attempt to please my 3rd grade teacher by getting my letters to slant the 'correct' way, and no more flipping through the pages of my book awkwardly with my right hand! Hebrew books are read from the 'back' to the front and the sentences are read and written from right to left. This is obviously the divine language!

I say that of course somewhat in jest, but it is one of the languages that our Lord and Savior spoke. It is mind blowing to read and write as Jesus did when He lived amongst us. Hebrew is not only very beautiful when it is written or spoken, but I think it is especially beautiful when it is sung. During one of our class periods we had a guest professor come and teach us a song in Hebrew called, "Hashkiveinu." It is a song that is sung by many Jewish families and is a regular part of Jewish worship. I was told that this song has been sung in the Synagogues for hundreds of years, in fact it dates all the way back to the first century. This of course means that there is a decent chance, maybe even a very good change that Jesus Himself would have sung this (of course to a different tune) at His synagogue or even at His house with His mother and father. I thought that this was pretty incredible, so I immediately taught it to my kids. I mean, if Jesus might have sung it, I figured it wouldn't hurt us to learn it - right? Hashkiveinu, I'm happy to say, is now our regular bed time song. The words simply mean, "Lay us down to sleep Adonai (Lord) our God in peace, and raise us again our King to life." Here is a rendition for you to enjoy. I'm sure Mary, Joseph, and Jesus would have made this sound a whole lot better, but we're working on limited resources here...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the Carlson household we were bribed with Dairy Queen, so what do you do in the Ostercamp household?
Josh

Seth thouroughly enjoyed watching Natalie sing, he had to sit in my lap when she started! Great job kids! Love you guys! -Holly

sarah said...

I think I heard a little Uncle Matt too? :) Very nice guys!!! It put me right to sleep...

AlyssaB said...

Carson and I enjoyed this so much we will be sharing it with Carissa tonight for her bedtime song!