Does the Passover Seder song, Dayenu, explain the difference between Israel’s right and left?
This is a segment from The “Dialectics of Dayenu” Edition.
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I’m a little behind but, from the April 2 episode I have a question for Ohad. I want to thank him for the book review. The book sounded interesting and even though he said that it spoke to him personally and I am at least 40 years older, I think the book might also speak to me. My question is: what is the meaning of the Arabic phrase that was embedded in the passage you read. I realize that it may be, in a way, untranslatable, but give it a try, just so I can appreciate what the author was getting at. thanks
Hi Mike, thank you for the kind words!
The phrase “Hua Fahem A’lee” can be translated to English as “He understands me”, but literally means “He understands on me” or “about me”. As I understand it, A’lee is equivalent to עליי in Hebrew – on me – and Zohar Elmakias riffs on that nuance in the paragraph I read. The small yet significant difference between “understanding me” and “understanding on me” or “about me” or “of me”. She writes (my translation): “He doesn’t understand me, but about me. He understands something about me, he understands something about me that I don’t understand myself”.
I hope this answers your question.