Night of Huza – a Tishʿa BeʾAv lamentation
In memory of Tsabaria Ido Zaqen Z"L
A general translation:
A mother who is fearful for her son warns him form the evil spirit of Judea that floats above water, "Night of Huza", during Tisha B'Av. She worries for him and that he might escape through the river (maye maye) and warns him not to walk through the fields (= dashte dashte) and not through the mountains (ture ture), since the residents there are cruel and hate the Jews (heretics) and might kill him. The mother is in fear and sorrow, repeats the words and laments and says: vay li daye = oh my mother, oh my mother.
Lel huza maye maye, ho lel huza
Lel huza maye maye, vay li daye
Lo aziten dashte dashte, ho lel huza
Lo alki boch an dashtaye vay li daye
Kafore'ya ve'alana'ye, ho lel huza
Lag afe el dan huza'ye, vay li daye
Lel huza maye maye, ho lel huza
Lel huza maye maye, vay li daye
Lo aziten ture ture, ho lel huza
Lo alki boch an tura'ye, vay li daye
Kafore ve'alana'ye, ho lel huza
Lag afe el dan huza'ye, vay li daye
Lel huza maye maye, ho lel huza
Lel huza maye maye, vay li daye
(Transcription courtesy of Prof. Yona Saba)
For reading see:
Yona Sabar, Lel Huza: Story and History in Cycle of Lamentation for the Ninth of AB in the Jewish Neo-Aramaic of Zacho, Iraqi Kurdistan, Journal of Semitic Studies, 21 (1976). pp. 138-162
Yona Sabar, The Folk Literature of the Kurdistani Jews: an Anthology, New Haven & London 1982
Yitzḥaq Avishur, Echoes of the Dirges of the Women Who Mourn the Tamm´z in the Dirges of Jewish Women in Kurdistan on Tish'a Be-'Av Night, Ben 'Ever Le'Arav, 5 (2012). pp.145–154
