From the recording Orijinal (En Bivo)
First recorded on Together/Endjuntos (2017)
Most of my original songs are secular, so writing one for the holiday of Shavuot—the festival commemorating the giving of the Torah—felt like an opportunity to explore a different side of the Ladino tradition. I was especially drawn to the Sephardic custom of reading La Ketubá de la Ley, a poem dating back to the 18th century that imagines the relationship between the Jewish people and the Torah like a wedding contract.
One Ladino expression related to the holiday stayed with me: "When the Jews received the Torah, the mountain burst into bloom." That idea became the heart of the song. I composed the song to reflect both the joy and the reverence of that moment.
Lyrics
Ladino:
La ketuba de la Ley
La onoramos
Los Djudios resivieron la Tora,
I la montanya se enfloresio
Agora meldamos la Tora
Por muestra relasion kon el Dio
Un regalo santo es la Tora
Es yena de sensya i dulsor
Todo esta en la Tora
Oy fiestamos su poder
Andaremos ande tu andas
La Ley amostra el kamino.
English:
The marriage contract of the law
We honor it
When the Jews received the Torah
The mount flourished
Now when we read the Torah
We remember our bond with G-d
The Torah is a divine gift
Filled with wisdom and sweetness
All is revealed in the Torah
So today we celebrate its power
We will go wherever you go
The Law will lead the way.