צור השלישי (tzur hashlishi/the third rock)

[bnewman]

In Hebrew liturgy, G!d is not infrequently referred to as a "rock" — a strong place, a solid foundation. The psalmist in particular ofter addresses G!d as "my rock". Some time last year, a certain Shabbat song with the refrain "rock from whose [bounty] we have eaten" got me thinking about my favorite rock, which is my refuge, my foundation, and, indeed, the rock from whose bounty I eat.

Yesterday, following a long and fascinating conversation with debka_notion, preparations for songleading for student-led Reform services this morning (which had the tune in my head), and having recently reread Jewish with Feeling, in which Reb. Zalman talks about more or less exactly this image, I wrote this filk of the last four verses of Psalm 92:

"צור השלישי" (Tzur Hashlishi/The Third Rock from the Sun)

אמיץ כעוף יעלה בכח כעמוד אש מאחוריו
כבר לבבו בתוך הכוכבים ובשמים חלומותיו
עוד יראון מן היריח תכשיט כחול וירוק לפניהם
הצור השלישי משמש הוא צורי ולא עולתה בו

G DG D Em / CG DEm Am D / G C D Bm /[1. C Am G D :/[2. C Am GD G

Amitz ka'of ya'aleh, bako'ach ka'amud esh me'achorav.
K'var levavo betoch hakochavim, uvashamayim chalomotav.
Od yir'un min ha'y'riach tachshit kachol v'yarok lif'neihem.
Hatzur hashlishi mishemesh hu — tzuri, velo avlata bo.

(The bold shall rise up like a bird, with power like a pillar of fire behind him.
Already his heart is among the stars, and his dreams in heaven.
From the moon they shall yet see a blue and green jewel before them.
It is the third rock from the sun — my rock, in which there is no flaw.)

[ edit: minor changes to the Hebrew incorporating some of the suggestions here, posted MP3 ]

Comments

[zsero.livejournal.com]

In the context of space travel and astronomy, I don't think the moon is ever called לבנה; I think that word is reserved for the moon as seen from Earth, regarded as an object in the sky rather than as an actual rock in space.

מלבנה and משמש mean "from a moon" and "from a sun"; I added the definite article.

[orawnzva.livejournal.com]

I think עוד יראון מן הירח scans better to the tune I'm using than עוד מן הירח יראון. What's the difference in meaning between בכח and עם כח in this context?

[zsero.livejournal.com]

You want to say "with a power...behind him". בכח, to my mind, means "in a power", or "by means of a power".

[orawnzva.livejournal.com]

Well, the power which is like a pillar of fire is how he rises up like a bird (considering the subject). The question is, does ב bind so tightly that כעמוד אש ends up modifying אמיץ rather than כח?

[zsero.livejournal.com]

Or it could be seen as modifying יעלה ; either way, it sounds off to me. But you really need a native speaker, which I'm not. Maybe the post to israfilk will produce some more expert nitpicking.