בס״ד
Bo
Four hundred thirty years of exile
or two hundred and
ten?
Sometimes, space and time are only
outward signs of an exile
that begins in a seemingly distant
past
Sometimes exile is
an unsettled nagging
nibbling at hearts
and minds
Sometimes
exile is a search for belonging
that is just the beginning
of bringing you
home
And what is redemption but
a land and a people choosing
to live and grow
together?
בס״ד
Va’era
*He started with the eldest,
And then He counted down,
He knew that somewhere in there,
A goel would be found.
He looked carefully at Reuven,
And then his arba sons,
He next inspected Shimon,
But his five were not the ones.
The third in line was Levi,
Of banim he had three,
Gershon first, and then Kahath,
The last was Merari.
While sifting through Kahathi,
Amram’s children had potential,
Aharon, Moshe (and Miriam, too?),
They all were deemed essential.
And so this parsha mentions,
Of the heads of all the houses,
Just the three firstborn of Leah,
(And even names some spouses).
* based upon Kli Yakar
בס״ד
Shemos
It was Basya who found him,
Yocheved who birthed him,
Basya who raised him,
Yocheved who nursed him.
It was Miriam who tracked him,
It was Aaron who sought him,
Zipporah who loved him,
And shepherds who fought him.
It was Yisro of Midian,
Who gave him a home,
There the Ay-bush-ter found him,
In the midbar, alone.
בס״ד
Vayechi
Our Avos must distinguish,
Between the young son and the old,
Which one should be number one,
And which one should be culled.
Avraham Avinu needed Sarah,
To point out light from dark,
She saw Yitzchok was the future,
Within him the holy spark.
Yitzchok, led by Rivkah’s vision,
Sees that here’s the blessed son,
“Is this Esav, or is it Yaakov?
I’m not sure, but he’s the one”.
But Yaakov has no Rochel,
To perceive with eyes unshaded,
Yet he turns aside his son’s advice,
And sets Efraim first, unaided.
בס״ד
Vayigash
Yosef had been the favorite son,
Placed above the others,
Why does history repeat itself,
Once reunited with his brothers?
Could this be the final test,
That Yosef placed before them,
Will they be jealous and abuse,
His favored one, Binyamin?
The parsha doesn’t mention if,
The siblings now feel slighted,
It seems the lesson has been learned,
That capsized ship now righted.
Yet maybe seeds are planted here,
For war, that comes in Shoftim,
With Binyamin trounced at Givah,
By all the other shvatim.
בס״ד
Mikeitz
seven years of abundance
abundance
truly, i have never lived
without abundance
abundance
something to feel guilty about
because of all those who live without it
abundance
hard to appreciate unless you
can experience its lack
abundance
a gift and a challenge
the more choices we have
the more mistakes we can make
the greater we may become
abundance and famine
in the end, are within the eye
of the beholder
bracha or klalah
בס״ד
Vayeishev
What were the brothers doing in Sh’chem?
Why would Yaakov still have flocks up there?
Why was Yosef sent to check up on them?
What mission did the youngster bear?
Were they there to pasture their father’s flocks?
Not according to Rashi’s reasoning,
Above the word “את” he notes two dots,
Which changes the pasuk’s meaning.
They went, Rashi says, to indulge and carouse,
To “pasture” themselves, so to speak,
Far away from their father’s house,
(And perhaps, too, from Yosef, that geek).
Did Yaakov suspect they were up to no good?
Did he send Yosef there as a spy?
Or did he think, if he hung with his bros,
He’d be seen as a regular guy?
In any case, Yaakov rues his choice,
Considering what then transpires,
Like Esav, he’ll cry with a trembling voice,
When he’s shown Yosef’s bloodied attire.
