A very interesting topic for research attracted my attention during this first season of the year. I dedicated some hours of research in 4 languages looking for some answers. After delivering my conclusions, my friend Hengameh, who helped me throughout this research, gave me the idea to post them here.
In 2007, a TV series appeared in Iran, called “Zero Degree Turn” (In Persian
“مدار صفر درجه “), Coproduced in Iran and Europe and originally filmed in Persian, French, and German. The film was co-produced through the cooperation of Iran, France, Hungary, and Lebanon. This TV production directed by Hassan Fathi is set in the time of the Second World War, and the plot is about the love story of an Iranian Student in Paris and a French Jewish woman. You can read more in this article from the BBC.
The theme song of the TV series is “من عاشق چشمت شدم “ (Man Ashegh Chashmat Shodam) [In English: “When I Fell in Love with Your Eyes”] sing by Alireza Ghorbani. This song has a very nice poem in Persian, written by the late Iranian writer Afshin Yadollahi. You can read the lyrics in Persian with its translation to English.
Curiously, the part of the choir has the lyrics in Hebrew. This combination had a great impact on me for multiple reasons. The choir where I sing was given the task to perform this song at a concert.
None of my colleagues seem to know the meaning of the lyrics in Hebrew or why they were added to the song. Personally I only understood some words, but the way they were written with Latin letters was far from being something I could identify. What did the lyrics in Hebrew say and how do they relate with the main song and with the TV series?
The Choir part started with the words: “Yonati, bagu aseIa…”. Find the real words and their meaning was perhaps the easiest task. I tried to compose an equivalent phrase in Hebrew and post it to Google to see the results. The answer I got was this phrase: “יונתי בחגוי הסלע “ (Yonati Bachagvei ha’sela). A page in Internet with some commentaries about this phrase, referred me to the Book “Song of Songs”, that is part of the Hebrew Bible. The text in Hebrew is:
יוֹנָתִי בְּחַגְוֵי הַסֶּלַע בְּסֵתֶר הַמַּדְרֵגָה הַרְאִינִי אֶת־מַרְאַיִךְ הַשְׁמִיעִנִי אֶת־קוֹלֵךְ כִּי־קוֹלֵךְ עָרֵב וּמַרְאֵיךְ נָאוֶה׃
( שיר השירים ב יד )
The text can be read in Song of Songs 2, 14; You can read it in your favourite translation of the Bible.
This text was a match for the choir part in Hebrew. I was amazed to read that this Biblical verse was chosen as part of the theme song. My question is why?
I personally thought that this verse must be related in some way with the TV series “Zero Degree Turn” and with the song “When I Fell in Love with Your Eyes”, although this relation can be for different reasons one from another. I then conducted a research on this verse to find out more.
I read about the life of the late Iranian writer Afshin Yadollahi. I did not find any evidence that could let us think that he had enough knowledge about Hebrew or Jewish culture to make such election. I thought that this election might have come from someone within a Jewish community that might have this knowledge. There are reports indicating that during the production of “Zero Degree Turn”, the production team found great support from Jewish communities, especially in Iran and Hungary, where local members took the time to explain them some of the rituals and traditions.
The text of the Biblical Verse in Hebrew is part of a Love Poem. It is clearly addressed to a woman. As an example I can write that the word “יונתי“ (Yonati) means: “My dove”, and is one of the Sweetest words of endearment that can be found in Hebrew to be dedicated to a female. The word “קולךְ “ (Kolech) means “your voice”, and can only be used for a female. The same happens with the word “מראיךְ” (Mar’aich) which means “your appearance”.
In Midrash Shir ha-Shirim Rabba, there is a commentary linking this text with the history of the Israelites at the time they were standing in front of the sea, and the Pharaoh’s army behind them, before the split if the sea. This story is compared with the story of a dove that is trying to escape from a Hawk, suddenly, she finds shelter in the cliff of a rock, but then is attacked by a snake. The story finish when a man comes and rescues the dove. There are many accounts that compare the hardships of Egypt with the Holocaust during the Second World War. I believe that this is the reason to link this biblical text to the series “Zero Degree Turn”.
Then, how is that both lyrics relate, one with the other?
In an article about dreams, in Hebrew, I read that the dove is considered a symbol of peace. But to dream with a white dove it means “Love”. In Jewish culture, doves are considered “kosher animals”. This is not only important for culinary reasons, but to understand that they are considered Pure. They represent beauty and innocence. It is known that Doves are monogamous and that in a couple when one of them dies, the other one has difficulty accepting a new partner.
من عاشق چشمت شدم نه عقل بود و نه دلی
I fell in your love with your eye, it was not reason, nor heart
چیزی نمی دانم ازین دیوانگی و عاقلی
I know nothing about this madness or logicalness
(From "Man Ashegh Chashmat Shodam")
In Chabadpedia, It is written that in the Zohar, the Dove is compared with the Soul. But we must understand which soul. In the Jewish mysticism, beside our bodies, we have a spiritual part (Soul) with consist in 5 different levels: They are: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya and Yechida. The dove is compared with “Neshama” (נשמה) that is connected to wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. This is the part that is more connected with the spiritual world. But in Judaism, the Soul mate is known as Ha’neshama ha’teuma (הנשמה התאומה ). The Zohar also teaches that before God sends soul into the world, it is formed into a male and female pair. The pair separates and they are sent to be born in his own time. The marriage is a union of two soul mates who become one. You can read more on this page:
وقتی گریبان عدم با دست خلقت می درید
When the collar of Void was clawed by the hand of Creation
وقتی ابد چشم تو را پیش از ازل می آفرید
When Eternity created your eye before the beginning of Times
In another page, I read that this Biblical verse is read at the moment a girl is given her name, after aprox 2 weeks of the moment of her birth.
من عاشق چشمت شدم شاید کمی هم بیشتر
I fell in love with your eye, maybe less maybe more
During this research, I had access to documents in Judeo Persian, a group of dialects of Persian spoken or written by Jews from Iran. It is usually represented with Hebrew script. Judeo Persian uses a few Hebrew words and some of the Persian terms are quite old. Not all Iranians can easily understand it. You can read more in Iranica online.
It is impressive to read the way that both lyrics match. However, this is a subject that is not often discussed. In other hand, I found references to “Zero Degree Turn” in the Israeli press, but they are very skeptical about the intentions of this TV series and there is no mention to the theme song. On the Iranian side, I haven’t seen any comment regarding the pairing of both love poems.
In my opinion, we are about to miss another opportunity to appreciate the similarities that exist between Persian and Jewish culture and their spiritual traditions, both very ancient and with a long history of coexistence and mutual influence.
The Idea of “Zero Degree Turn” is wonderful, this being a production of high quality, but where unfortunately politics is not playing a positive role this time. That is why I prefer not to make further comments about it.
But the beauty of the song “من عاشق چشمت شدم “ or “When I Fell in Love”, with a choir singing the text of Song of Songs 2, 14 is really outstanding. It is a true vision of how 2 cultures have a lot in common when they talk about Love. I really wish that this idea will last, so that future generations have the opportunity to appreciate how Persians and Jews were able to work and learn together about wisdom and Love.
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