Mariage juif a Mogador
All is carefully arranged,
The youth can visit his betrothed.
But the reverse?
My heavens, no!
That cannot be done!
At the future bride's abode,
As for battle
They are girding,
Everyone preparing
En garde No time for shirking!
Artisans come to do their part
Some arrive as others depart.
Here we see the mattress-maker.
Sitting on the ground is he.
The making of a marriage bed
Is a crucial event;
It's ceremony carried out
In the presence of
Both families.
From his knotted hand
There surges an enormous needle,
Brandished
Like a battle sword.
He plunges this weapon in the cloth
And behold!
A fine mattress emerges.
But,
Before sewing it up,
Here, my friends
Is what is done.
At the very top we slip
A Kalb of sugar well wrapped up.
This is what will guarantee
Tender nights, all worry-free.
Then the laughs begin
And allusions mingle
One conjugates :
I love, you love, he loved
And we throw upon the mattress
Many gifts, and also Ghrama
Three weeks before the wedding
The invitations are announced
Not in writing, be aware!
But aloud, by an A'rrad7
The words were rendered into verse
Of this you can be assured.
The A'rrad, his voice resonant and strong
Blending wishes and hopes in his song.
Sam'o, ya eulad Souira
Kal senior flann ou siniora
A'ndna Iferh'a kbira
Bass n'a'rdo a'leikeum
Ou'la eidadkeum
Bass tkeuno m'a'na
Fel a'rss di eidadna
Obzehd Llah Meulana
Nerdolkeum felfarh' ya hoina
Oulah ykter hirkeum bla kiass
Onkeulo tenkiou, vierci ougracias
Which means :
Listen sons of Essaouira
Thus sav 'Senor' and his Seiiora
It is with joy and with delight
We have the honor to invite
You to attend
The marriage of our children
And, with the help of God,
Merciful and also good,
We will in turn reciprocate.
May God provide
All your hearts' desires
And let us all together express
Thank you, merci, and gracias.
But you still have seen nothing,
Here is the "Sabbath of Beginning."
The Shabbat el bdiann.
The Shabbat before the marriage
. All the city comes to pray,
Congregants crowd in together,
Some in front and some behind,
And everyone among them knows
That all expenses are defrayed
By the father of the bride.
The Paitanim
Singers of reputation
Sing their Piyuttimu
According to tradition.
After the prayers, our spirits gay,
We embrace, and hurry away.
We go to the betrothed's for an aperitif.
We sing, we drink, and we eat,
Then slip away on furtive feet.
The closest kin remain for Skhina,
And if they stay for Minha prayer,
It is because they are welcome there.