The Prayer of Tikkun Rachel

One should take burnt ashes and place them on his forehead in the place where Tefillin are laid, and say:

"To appoint unto the mourners of Zion, to give them a garland instead of ashes."

He should remove his shoes, and sit on the ground near the Mezuzah.

Our God and the God of our fathers, may our prayer come before You, and do not ignore our supplication. For we are not so brazen and stiff-necked as to say before You, Hashem our God and the God of our fathers, "We are righteous and we have not sinned." Rather, we and our fathers have sinned:

We have become guilty, we have betrayed, we have robbed, we have spoken slander. We have caused perversion, and we have acted wickedly, we have sinned willfully, we have extorted, we have falsely accused. We have given evil counsel, we have lied, we have scoffed, we have rebelled, we have provoked, we have turned away, we have committed iniquity, we have transgressed, we have persecuted, we have been stiff-necked. We have acted wickedly, we have corrupted, we have committed abominations, we have strayed, we have led others astray:

We have turned away from Your Mitzvos and Your good laws, and it has not profited us. You are righteous in all that has come upon us, for You have acted in truth, while we have acted wickedly. We have acted wickedly and transgressed; therefore, we have not been saved:

What can we say before You, Who dwells on high, and what can we relate before You, Who abides in the heavens? Do You not know all hidden and revealed things?

You know the mysteries of the universe, and the hidden secrets of all living beings. You search all the innermost chambers of the body, and examine the kidneys and the heart. Nothing is hidden from You, and nothing is concealed from Your eyes. Therefore, may it be Your will, Hashem our God and the God of our fathers, that You grant us atonement for all our sins, forgive us for all our iniquities, and pardon us for all our transgressions:

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in its midst we hung our harps. For there our captors asked us for words of song, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, "Sing for us from the song of Zion." How can we sing the song of Hashem on alien soil? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue adhere to my palate if I fail to recall you, if I fail to elevate Jerusalem above my foremost joy. Remember, Hashem, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall; those who said, "Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation!" O daughter of Babylon, who is destined to be destroyed, praised is he who will repay you what you have done to us. Praised is he who will seize and dash your infants against the rock.

A Psalm of Asaph. O God, nations have entered Your inheritance, they have defiled Your Holy Sanctuary (Beis HaMikdash), they have turned Jerusalem into heaps of rubble. They have given the corpses of Your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of Your pious ones to the beasts of the earth. They have shed their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us. Until when, Hashem? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, and upon the kingdoms that do not call upon Your Name. For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste to his habitation. Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let Your mercies swiftly come to meet us, for we have been brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Your Name; rescue us and atone for our sins for Your Name's sake. Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations before our eyes, the vengeance for the spilled blood of Your servants. Let the groans of the prisoner come before You; according to the greatness of Your arm, preserve those condemned to die. And repay our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their disgrace with which they have disgraced You, O Lord. Then we, Your people and the flock of Your pasture, will give thanks to You forever; from generation to generation we will recount Your praise.

Remember, Hashem, what has befallen us; look and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans without a father; our mothers are like widows. We have had to pay money to drink our own water; our wood comes at a price. We are pursued with a yoke on our necks; we are exhausted and given no rest. We reached out our hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we have borne the burden of their iniquities. Slaves have ruled over us; there is no one to rescue us from their hands. We bring in our bread at the risk of our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin has become scorched like an oven, because of the burning heat of famine. They ravished women in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hung by their hands; the faces of elders were not honored. Young men carried the grinding mill, and youths stumbled under the wood. Elders have ceased from the city gate, young men from their music. The joy of our heart has ceased; our dancing has turned into mourning. The crown of our head has fallen; woe to us, for we have sinned. Because of this our heart was sick; because of these our eyes have dimmed. Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate; foxes prowl upon it. You, Hashem, remain forever; Your throne is from generation to generation. Why do You forget us forever, forsake us for so long? Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old. For even if You had utterly rejected us, You have been exceedingly angry with us. Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old.

Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious dwelling; where is Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me have been restrained. For You are our Father; though Abraham may not know us and Israel may not recognize us, You, Hashem, are our Father; our Redeemer from of old is Your Name. Why, Hashem, do You make us stray from Your ways, and harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your inheritance. For a little while Your holy people possessed it; our adversaries have trampled Your Sanctuary. We have become like those over whom You never ruled, upon whom Your Name was never called. And now, Hashem, You are our Father; we are the clay and You are our Potter, and we are all the work of Your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry, Hashem, and do not remember iniquity forever; behold, look now, we are all Your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and glorious House, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all our cherished things have become a ruin. Will You restrain Yourself at these things, Hashem? Will You remain silent and afflict us so severely? Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You struck us so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but there is no good; and for a time of healing, but behold, terror! We acknowledge our wickedness, Hashem, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You. Do not despise us for Your Name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember, do not annul Your covenant with us.

Thus said Hashem: A voice is heard on high, wailing, bitter weeping; Rachel is weeping for her children, she refuses to be comforted for her children, for they are gone. Hashem will roar from on high, and from His holy habitation He will give forth His voice; He will roar mightily over His dwelling place. And the Lord, Hashem of Hosts, called on that day for weeping, and for lamentation, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth. For these things I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water, for a comforter to restore my soul is far from me; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed. Behold, their angels cry out in the streets; the angels of peace weep bitterly.

The first lamentation was composed by the Rav, our teacher Rabbi Moshe Alshich zt"l (of blessed memory):

Gather and hear, sons of Jacob, all of you; tear your hearts and not your garments, for because of your transgressions your mother was sent away, and give glory to Hashem your God.

Who is the man who desires life and whose palate tastes food, who loves days to see good and to visit His Sanctuary, and God will see fit for him to dwell in His tent without cost to him, for which he did not toil nor did he raise it.

Where has your Beloved gone, to ascend with Him to the heavens? I have sinned and He is bound in chains, and for this mourn and wail, come and sleep in sackcloth, in the broad places and in the markets.

What does the Shechinah (Divine Presence) say? My head is humiliated, the greatness, the might, and the glory have passed over my head, and the eternity and the splendor have no one seeking my soul, and my soul has been removed from peace.

For this I will mourn and wail, I will recoil in trembling, my voice is like a sick woman, my innards, my innards I hope for, for your sake I was sent to Babylon, and I am amidst the exile.

Your iniquities have caused these, and your sins; I exiled you to discipline you, and Hashem became furious with me for your sake, and God sent me before you.

In the House of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, no man takes it to heart why I should be like a veiled mourner, like a leaning wall and a pushed-in fence, have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of deep darkness?

We know, Hashem, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers, behold we have come to You, Hashem our God, return for the sake of Your servants and forgive our iniquity, You will again have mercy on us and suppress our iniquities.

And Hashem said, I have loved you, all My salvation and all My desire is to return to have mercy on you, return to Me and I will return to you, I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Say to the daughter of Zion, thus said your Lord: Instead of your being forsaken, your sons will marry you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so will your God rejoice over you, and you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of Hashem, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

This lamentation was composed by the perfect sage, my teacher and master, the man of God, our teacher Rabbi Chaim HaKohen from Aram Tzova zt"l (of blessed memory), and his name is signed in the acrostics of the stanzas:

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

I calculated the days I was a mistress, in the hand of Hashem a crown of glory, and now I am blackened, I have sunk in the pit in the miry depths.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

An only one, a beloved companion I was then, and the Supreme Glory I was called, and now to the lowest depths I have descended, and my Beloved and my Friend has ascended to the heights.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

Together, my acquaintances, my virgins and my companions, weep with me for my sighs are many, no one pitches my tent anymore or sets up my curtains, for my Beloved has journeyed from me and departed.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

From the heights I was cast down in great sorrow, He sent fire into my bones and it subdued them, and I went out into exile alone like a widow, Judah was exiled, the entirely peaceful ones were exiled.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

I was like a bride inside a canopy, and the cloud by day was upon the foundation of Mount Zion, I was cast outside like a poor and destitute person, the enemy took my garments and I am miserable.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

My Kohanim and my elders my enemies slaughtered, those who hold fast to my covenant, the seed of my beloved ones, my precious sons and my chosen youths, went into captivity and my infants into exile.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

Behold, for all these there is no one who seeks my soul, the ruin is filled and to the nations I lift my head, and my enemy said, you shall no longer call Me 'my Husband', for I have fallen before the children of iniquity.

A voice on high is heard in wailing, a voice of lament from praised Zion.

Please, Merciful Father, return to Zion, eye to eye we will see the building of the canopy, and this House will be supreme, and then the redeemed will break forth in jubilation.

And this House will be supreme, and then the redeemed will break forth in jubilation.

This lamentation was brought from Jerusalem, may it be rebuilt and established speedily in our days:

Until when, Hashem, on this day opposite You, will Your congregation wail bitterly, over Your House of Prayer which Your enemies burned, and killed the members of Your covenant.

O God, nations have entered Your inheritance.

Until when, Hashem, will You forget the tumult of those who rise against You, and the desolation of Your Sanctuary and the scattering of Your nation, those who are oppressed for You, those who are killed for Your Name. Until when will You fume against the prayer of Your people, who meditate before You over the destruction of Your House.

O God, nations have entered Your inheritance.

Until when, Hashem, will I lie among the ash heaps, and between the oven and the stove, my eyes have grown dim, blazing fires swallow me up evening, morning, and noon. Until when will I be appalled over the double destruction, until when will You not have mercy on Jerusalem. Until when will the remnant of the flock of Your pasture meditate in distress.

O God, nations have entered Your inheritance.

Until when, Hashem, will the wicked exult, who devoured Jacob and plunder at all times, I seek their peace and they pluck and shear, in disgrace they struck my cheeks and with lips of falsehood they deviate. Until when, Hashem, will the wicked exult, until when will Your maidservant (so-and-so daughter of so-and-so) cry out in captivity.

O God, nations have entered Your inheritance.

The fourth lamentation, the acronym of which is the Name A-D-N-Y:

In Your Sanctuary there are thorns and thistles; behold, this is the Torah of the House.

How was the Hall destroyed, and the foundation of the world demolished, and the stars trembled and were struck, and the Kohen departed from the House.

In Your Sanctuary there are thorns and thistles; behold, this is the Torah of the House.

The holy dwelling which You built, to bequeath to the nation You acquired, woe, for You commanded the enemies, they came and cleared out the House.

In Your Sanctuary there are thorns and thistles; behold, this is the Torah of the House.

All its luminaries were darkened, all its gates were closed, until all who saw it said, it seems to me like a plague in the House.

In Your Sanctuary there are thorns and thistles; behold, this is the Torah of the House.

Hashem, turn back from Your burning anger and Your wrath, and remember the word of Your prophecy, to bring good tidings now to Your congregation, great will be the glory of the House.

To bring good tidings now to Your congregation, great will be the glory of the House.

This lamentation is from the book Moreh B'Etzba by the Chida (Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai) zt"l, section 20.

Woe to me over the exile of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), woe to me over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple), woe to me over the burning of the Torah, woe to me over the killing of the Tzaddikim, woe to me over the desecration of His great Name and His holy Torah, woe to me that the enemy has prevailed, woe to me over the schoolchildren whose studies were interrupted, woe to me over the sorrow of all the spiritual worlds, woe to me over the sorrow of the holy Patriarchs and the holy Matriarchs, woe to me over the sorrow of the prophets, the Tzaddikim, and the pious ones who are in the Garden of Eden, woe to me over the sorrow of Mashiach. Our iniquities have caused these, and our transgressions have prolonged our end, and our sins have withheld the good from us. Woe to the children who were exiled from their Father's table, it has been such a long time and many bad years, and any generation in whose days the Beis HaMikdash is not rebuilt, it is as if it was destroyed in its days.

Fifth lamentation:

Over my Sanctuary I weep day and night, and for the glory of Zion, the praised city.

Constant weeping over the double destruction, the land of the deer (Israel) and Jerusalem, and over her people who went into exile.

And for the glory of Zion, the praised city.

My glorious House the enemy laid waste, he settled me in the hands of Nevayos and Shammah, for this I weep constantly with a voice of wailing.

And for the glory of Zion, the praised city.

Mourn, O Torah, for your glory has been profaned, your crown has fallen from the day your House was destroyed, for this I raise a lament over Oholibah and Oholah.

And for the glory of Zion, the praised city.

Be strong, My people, I will quickly rebuild your Sanctuary, I will don vengeance and return your captivity, within My Sanctuary I will dwell as at first, for from Zion shall go forth Torah and praise, as it is written: For from Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem.

Afterward, you should awaken to rise and say:

Awaken now, Your exalted right hand, and to the cursed one call out comfort, and let it be said to the impoverished and sorrowful nation, O afflicted, storm-tossed one, who has found mercy.

Awaken now, bare Your arm, and let the end of Your salvation be revealed, and let it be said to the mute lamb, O afflicted, storm-tossed one, who has found mercy.

Awaken now, Your right hand, O God, and redeem Israel in Your mercy, and let it be said to the poor nation that asks, and a Redeemer shall come to Zion.

Awaken now, Your supreme right hand, and rebuild Zion in Your mercy, and let it be said to the poor and destitute nation, that Hashem has comforted Zion, as it is written: For Hashem has comforted Zion, He has comforted all her ruins, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Hashem; joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Shake off the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem; loosen the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night, continuously, they shall never be silent. You who remind Hashem, take no rest for yourselves. And give Him no rest, until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Hashem has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength: I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored. For those who gather it shall eat it and praise Hashem, and those who collect it shall drink it in My holy courtyards.

Incline Your ear, my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city upon which Your Name is called; for it is not because of our righteousness that we lay our supplications before You, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay, for Your own sake, my God, for Your Name is called upon Your city and upon Your people. You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to favor her, for the appointed time has come. For Your servants desire her stones and favor her dust. Hashem is the Builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the dispersed of Israel.

TIKKUN LEAH

Tikkun Leah is also said on days when Tachanun (supplication prayers) is not said, even on Shabbos, Yom Tov, and Rosh Chodesh, except that on these days one does not say 'For the conductor... May Hashem answer you' (Psalm 20), nor 'For the conductor, a Psalm of David. When Nasan the prophet came to him' (Psalm 51), nor 'The earth will stagger' (Isaiah 24), nor 'Until when will there be weeping' (Psalm 102/147), and similarly one skips in the poem 'Shaarei Tziyon' until 'Your thresholds I will build':

A Psalm of David. The earth is Hashem's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it. For He founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not taken My Name in vain, and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from Hashem, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, those who seek Your face, Jacob, Selah. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be uplifted, O everlasting doors, so that the King of Glory may enter. Who is this King of Glory? Hashem, strong and mighty, Hashem, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O everlasting doors, so that the King of Glory may enter. Who is He, the King of Glory? Hashem of Hosts, He is the King of Glory, Selah.

For the conductor, a Maskil by the sons of Korach. As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when will I come and appear before the presence of God? My tears have been my bread day and night, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me: how I would pass on with the throng, walking slowly with them to the House of God, with a voice of joyous song and thanksgiving, a celebrating multitude. Why are you downcast, my soul, and why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I will yet thank Him for the salvations of His presence. My God, my soul is downcast within me; therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep to the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have passed over me. By day Hashem will command His loving-kindness, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in gloom because of the oppression of the enemy?" Like a crushing in my bones, my tormentors taunt me, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" Why are you downcast, my soul, and why do you moan within me? Hope to God, for I will yet thank Him, the salvations of my presence and my God.

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an unkind nation; from a deceitful and unjust man, rescue me. For You are the God of my strength; why have You abandoned me? Why must I walk in gloom because of the oppression of the enemy? Send Your light and Your truth, they will guide me; they will bring me to Your holy mountain and to Your dwelling places. And I will come to the Altar of God, to God, the joy of my exultation, and I will thank You with a harp, O God, my God. Why are you downcast, my soul, and why do you moan within me? Hope to God, for I will yet thank Him, the salvations of my presence and my God.

For the conductor, a Psalm of David. May Hashem answer you in the day of distress; may the Name of the God of Jacob fortify you. May He send your help from the Sanctuary, and support you from Zion. May He remember all your meal-offerings, and accept your burnt-offering with favor, Selah. May He grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your counsel. We will sing joyously for your salvation, and in the Name of our God we will raise our banner; may Hashem fulfill all your requests. Now I know that Hashem has saved His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heavens, with the mighty saving acts of His right hand. Some rely upon chariots and some upon horses, but we will invoke the Name of Hashem our God. They slumped and fell, but we arose and were invigorated. Hashem, save! May the King answer us on the day we call.

For the conductor with instrumental music, a Psalm, a song. May God favor us and bless us, may He illuminate His countenance with us, Selah. To make known Your way on earth, Your salvation among all nations. The nations will thank You, O God, the nations will thank You, all of them. The regimes will rejoice and sing for joy, for You will judge the nations fairly, and guide the regimes on earth, Selah. The nations will thank You, O God, the nations will thank You, all of them. The earth has yielded its produce; may God, our God, bless us. May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear Him.

Halleluyah! I will thank Hashem with all my heart, in the council of the upright and the congregation. Great are the deeds of Hashem, accessible to all who desire them. His work is majesty and splendor, and His righteousness endures forever. He has made a memorial for His wonders; Hashem is gracious and merciful. He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever. He has declared the power of His works to His people, to give them the heritage of the nations. The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are faithful. They are steadfast forever and ever, performed in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption to His people; He commanded His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His Name. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem; good understanding to all who perform them; His praise endures forever.

The earth will stagger like a drunkard, and sway like a hut; its transgression will weigh heavily upon it, and it will fall and not rise again. And it shall be on that day, Hashem will punish the host of heaven in heaven, and upon the kings of the earth upon the earth.

For the conductor, a Psalm of David. When Nasan the prophet came to him, after he had come to Bathsheba. Favor me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the abundance of Your mercies, erase my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and purify me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your eyes, so that You are justified in Your word, and vindicated in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You make me know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and erase all my iniquities. Create a pure heart for me, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and let a willing spirit uphold me. I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Rescue me from blood-guilt, O God, the God of my salvation; my tongue will sing joyously of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You do not desire a sacrifice, else I would give it; You do not want a burnt-offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Do good in Your favor to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will desire sacrifices of righteousness, burnt-offering and whole-offering; then bulls will be offered upon Your Altar.

A Song of Ascents. When Hashem returns the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers. Then our mouths will be filled with laughter, and our tongues with joyous song; then they will say among the nations, "Hashem has done great things for these." Hashem has done great things for us; we were joyful. Return, Hashem, our captivity, like streams in the dry land. Those who sow in tears will reap in joyous song. He who goes along weeping, carrying the measure of seeds, will surely come back with joyous song, carrying his sheaves.

Until when will there be weeping in Zion, and lamentation in Jerusalem? You will arise and have mercy on Zion, and build the walls of Jerusalem. You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to favor her, for the appointed time has come. For Your servants desire her stones and favor her dust. Hashem is the Builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the dispersed of Israel.

THE MELODY OF SHAAREI TZIYON

Its author is R' Chaim HaKohen, and the holy Rebbe Nachman praised this song very much (Sichos HaRan 268)

My Beloved went down to His garden to graze in the gardens, to delight and to gather roses, the voice of my Beloved knocks: Open for Me, My perfect one,

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

To You, my Beloved, I lift my soul, how is the wife of youth divorced? From then I was engraved upon Your heart, and now You have crowned a wife of harlotry:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

My daughter, do not fear, for I still remember you, and from a distant land I will gather your scattered ones, I will yet rebuild you and you shall be built in your beauty and your splendor, and indeed you are My sister:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

The greatness of my pain I remember at all times, how can a maidservant inherit her mistress? And she now acts as a stranger in eternal joy and pleasant plants:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

Know that I will hasten it in a time of favor, and you shall draw living water in joy, I will send a kid of the goats from the flock, to a desolate land by the hand of a designated man:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

Alas, alas, Hashem, for You have despised me, and from heaven to the land of Seir You have cast me, on a day of cold He removes the garment that wraps me, and that which was my house has become clothed in scarlet:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

And I will clothe you in embroidered garments and bind you in fine linen, and settings of gold upon your clothing, and a crown of glory shall be on your head, and above all glory you are beautiful, My beloved:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

An arrogant one defiled My holy Sanctuary, the precious sons of Zion treated as earthen pitchers, raze it, raze it, the foundation of My Sanctuary, the treacherous waters have passed over my soul:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

An arrow will pierce the enclosure of their hearts, instead of copper I will bring their gold, your sons from afar will bring upon their backs, My supplicants, the daughter of My dispersed ones, will bring My offering:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

You are pure, not a God who desires wickedness, until when will You not be righteous and saved? You will return and clothe me in garments of salvation, a robe of righteousness and an abundance of pearls:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

Beloved of My soul, why do you complain? Your righteousness and your love are not hidden from Me, therefore from the day of your exile I too have wandered, like a wandering bird I left My House:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

Is there any pleasure in the flesh of donkeys, that You should forget the love of the wife of youth? To hew out for Yourself cisterns, all of them broken, and there is no water in them, only the venom of cobras:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

Therefore the Tzaddik perished following your fall, and My right hand was drawn back out of My great love for you, I have not entered a house since the day of your exile, so as not to look upon My misfortune:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

My King, be zealous for the honor of Your Shechinah, foreign masters other than You have ruled over me, and in the place of Your Sanctuary and Your inheritance, they have placed Asherah trees and sun-images:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

I will don vengeance and the flame of God, and I will burn the house of idolatry and the house of the Egyptian woman, I will make My arrows drunk with the blood of the slain and the captives, and this shall be My comfort:

The gates of Zion which I have loved:

Your thresholds I will build and your gates I will raise, and I will lay your foundations all around with sapphires, and I will make your shining windows of rubies, and the sons of oil upon the head of the valley of oils:

The gates of Zion which I have loved: