Sefer Yona to the Hildebrandslied tune

In a recent conference, Dr. Ossnat Sharon-Pinto and Dr. Roni Cohen presented a comparison of an Old Yiddish performative translation of the biblical story of Jonah. Sefer Yona – an Old Yiddish rendering of the Biblical story of Jonah based on a Hebrew exegetical (Midrashic) compilation, first printed in Prague in 1598. While based on Midrash rather than directly on the Bible, it is adjacent to the tradition of Old Yiddish biblical retelling. The text is rhymed, and according to the instruction on its cover page it is to be sung “to the tune of Shmuel bukh”. Here it is sung to a tune known as Hildebrandslied, which some scholars have speculated is “the tune of Shmuel bukh”, by singer and cantor Irit Rose-Sharon. The verse sung here is the first in a lengthy episode describing Jonah’s gradual submersion in the sea, greatly expanded upon by the translator. This is an example of the Yiddish translator’s seizing on the dramatic and even comic potential in the source text, to create an engaging and well-rounded narrative.