Mariage juif a Mogador-fran-angl
Then thev bring the Ketuba
And, in the space below,
The groom augments, in his own hand,
The down׳ value written there.
We hear the Zgharit of delight,
And the drinks flow
As it is right.
That same day, in the afternoon,
Something I have not yet said,
To the home of the newly-weds,
Gaily and happily
Come women of the family,
They sit upon the canape
As they eat the Palebe,
They talk and babble.
Praise or deride :
"This is ugly,
That is sublime!"
They point with their fingers
And chatter jokingly,
But, believe me,
Never spitefully.
And towards the eve,
At the time for tea,
We tell the men"
"Go up!
The newlyweds are there,
Awaiting your good wishes."
Then the men,
Sbah in hand,
And also, a jasmine bouquet,
Smiling, all excited
Rejoin their wives.
And, until late in the night, celebrate
With music, food and drink.
The Hatan cannot leave his house
And this, my friends,
Is not without reason,
For with the Kallah he must stay,
To love her without measure.
And so, he receives his guests,
His sisters, his brothers, and his friends,
Who come by to visit him
In his new abode.
And now the Shabat Hatan
Has come
It is the "Sabbath of the Groom.
" Dressed in a Zoha and Caftan
,His brothers go with him
To the synagogue, where await
His entire circle of friends,
Family, Rabbi and the Hazan
And more than one Paitan.
The bride, regal, in Kssoua Kbira
Takes her place in the Azara
As for the groom, he is led forward
And seated close to the Aron Ha'Torah
The singers raise their voice
As if in competition,
We hear the first of them,
He sings a song of happiness
: Be-siman tov ve-hatslaha
Tehi-ay le-adataynou
Ve-kol sasson ve-kol simha
Yeshama be-artsenou
Ve-azai tehi-ay Harvaha
Be-viat me-shihenou
(Good wishes and success
For our community,
And the voice of joy and happiness
Be heard throughout our land,
So that felicity ensues
And our Messiah soon appears.)
Then the second singer begins,
A song sung with all his soul :
Dar shamayim
Na'arats bekedusha
Asher bara sasson ve-simha
Hatan ve-kallah ve-ditsa...
(The One who in heaven resides,
Worshipped in His sanctity,
Who has created joy and happiness
For Groom and Bride and lightheartedness…)
After this comes forward a third,
To show in turn his worth.
Gazar El shohen sne
Bat ploni leploni
Arbaim yom milifnay
Yom assot Hachem
Reou kama gdola
Mitsvat Hatan veKallah
(E-l, revealed in the burning bush,
For the union was decreed
For the daughter of them and the son of those
Forty days before the Creation.
Oh, see how great is the Mitzvah
Of Hatan and Kallah.)
And when the Torah leaves the Ark,
All of us reach out our arms
In fervent murmurs, we express
Our wishes for much happiness.
Almost all the invited guests
Are called to the Torah and blessed,
Instead of seven, as before,
There are ten, fifteen, a score,
To such a point that, surfeited,
Someone calls out, "That's enough ־ Halas!"
And there is complete silence
Before the most important part.
The Rabbi makes some fine remarks,
He praises the couple, and glorifies them.
And the Hatan, without airs,
Intones the blessings of the prayer :
Barekhu et Adonai ha-mevorakh!
All the room is under the spell
Moved, the bride dries a tear as well,
She throws candies and sweets on her Hatan
, Caught by the children with greedy elan
The prayer ended,
All are conveyed
To the parents of the groom
Where an abundant feast
Awaits.
What a banquet it is, my friends!
Wait! Stay in your seat!
Here come pigeons, stuffed and sweet!
Eat on! Don't stop ־
This is only a prelude ־
Not even yet the meal itself.
Toward night,
Before the Sabbath has "departed,"
The Hatan is at his door.
He is handsome and finely dressed
As he calls out to his friends,
"Come on in! Let's celebrate!
Let no one tire,
And let all do
As they desire."
And this is how, dear friends,
Together, like brothers,
We spend an unforgettable week
Seated around the table,
Eating and drinking,
Singing and dancing,
Adding on ceremonies,
And vet, it is not complete!
Come! Closer still!
I will now narrate
The event of the next Wednesday,
But you have surely guessed,
It is the Lilt tkssir Ihout.
Mabrouk, mabrouk!
In the morning, our valiant Hatan,
Goes to the Souk.
He is not alone, thanks be to God,
For his friends are with him too.
He passes by the potter
While one of his friends, the canniest,
Furtively buys
A Keskass – a sieve –
Giving it to the flower seller.
"Look after it well," he says,
"It mustn't break!"
When the florist greets the Hatan,
He holds out a floral bouquet:
"Buy these flowers for your wife
Don't ever leave her in dismay!"
Our young husband takes
The flowers… and the sieve,
And no one sees him quietly leave.
Thus, armed with the stolen sieve
He returns to his house
To give the flowers to his spouse,
And to cosset her.
On his route –
Hear how pleasant is this feat –
His friends approach him in the street
And by force press
Into his pockets many gifts of coins.
Then they go to his abode
Where Mahia in glasses glows,
The young wife, her head covered
In a blue or green Sbniah
Welcomes them with an Asslama.
Several times this phrase is said,
The table is already set.
The cries of the Zgharit sound
And Ghrama is collected around.
And when night falls
We present the young couple
With a large fish,
Placed in the sieve.
Their task
Is to scale it
And to clean it,
And, joyfully, they comply
Under the vigilant eye
Of the two mothers.
The fish symbolizes
Fertility.
If in Him
We are confident
God in his goodness
Will give children to them.
The theft of the sieve
Lets it be understood
That our young groom
Would go so far as to steal
To provide for his brood.
And so this is how, my friends,
Surrounded by good omens
Two families, happy and content,
In joy and love
A fortnight spent.
As it is said in the Scriptures :
In order that happiness endures,
Man leaves his mother and father
A wife to take.
Riches and strength
He will give to her,
And thus,
In his domain,
Joy will reign.
English translation by Janice Rosen