Abie Rotenberg - Yankel lyrics

In a little town somewhere in Europe Just about a hundred years ago Lived a simple man his name was Yankel And this is how his story goes Yankel couldn't learn a blatt gemara Why he barely knew to read and write Deep in his heart he loved to do the mitzvos But somehow he never seemed to get things right He didn't know his brachos, couldn't say shma by heart He'd daven shmoneh esray with his feet spread wide apart Everyone would laugh and snicker when he pa**ed them by in shul Here comes Yankel am ha'aretz could there be a bigger fool All the children would make fun of Yankel Teasing him as if he were a child But he never ever lost his temper On his face there was always a smile Now the Rabbi tried to learn with Yankel So the young man would know how to cope In one ear but then out the other The Rabbi gave up there simply was no hope His ivreh was atrocious, the place he'd always lose He'd show up on Yom Kippur wearing shiny polished shoes Everyone would laugh and snicker when he pa**ed them by in shul Here comes Yankel am ha'aretz could there be a bigger fool Stubborn Yankel he just kept on trying They all told him it's a hopeless cause But he kept saying one day I'll know how to Learn the torah and keep its laws Now one night the Rabbi fell asleep in shul Only to wake up when he heard a sigh It was Yankel by the aron kodesh And there were teardrops running from his eyes He was saying "Master of the world I know you hear my prayer And I accept my fate in life your judgments always fair Yet one thing I must ask you, where else am I to turn Could I not serve you so much more if I knew how to learn?" The rabbi sent Yankel to learn in yeshiva They all thought he'd lost his sanity He'll be back in a week for certain All the Rabbi said was wait and see Yankel's now a famous scholar it just took a few short years For the gates of heaven never close, they never close for tears And everyone stands to shake his hand as he pa**es them in shul Here comes Yankel talmud chacham how could we have been such fools