Blessed is The True Judge

I wrote this post on 17 October, but couldn’t find the strength to post it at that time. Since then, its message has gained additional layers for various reasons and now I feel ready to share it.

“Blessed is the true judge,” or Baruch dayan ha'emet, is a traditional blessing invoked at times of tragedy or death.

A more literal translation of the Hebrew is “blessed is the judge of Truth.”

In fact, if I were to do a Translation® in Hebrew, I would use the word emet for Truth in the syllogism: Truth is that which is so. That which is not Truth is not so. Therefore, Truth is all there is.

During times of deep tragedy, I sometimes find it easier to invoke “Blessed is the true judge” than to take out my pen and paper to do a Translation®. Maybe I am not alone in finding it difficult to concentrate enough to do a full Translation®.

Today I am going to try something unique. I am going to incorporate the above blessing into my preparation for a Metonymy Translation® and then I am going to work with the text of a Psalm to find the content for the Metonymy Translation®.

I am working with Psalm 20, a Psalm often referenced in challenging times. The beginning of this Psalm reminds me of a Second Step of Translation®, in which you wrestle with your sense testimony (day of distress; needing help and support) and the rest of the Psalm is like a Third Step, in which you work through / contrast the Sense Testimony with Truth (acknowledgement of Hashem’s presence).

If you are a Prosperos student, I invite you to try something similar with a Metonymy Translation® using a Psalm of your choice. If you are not a Prosperos student, perhaps you can find comfort in the blessing or Psalm shared in this post.

“Blessed is the true judge.”

Photo Credit: Jacques Lahitte, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons