Mikeitz

 בס״ד

Mikeitz

Yosef tries to trap them in a lie,

But his brothers tell the truth,

Yaakov scolds Yehudah, “Why?”,

Which reminds us of his youth.

They lade a caravan of donkeys,

With lotus, wax, and honey,

Pistachios, almonds, balsam, too,

And twice their purchase money.

Binyamin descends, as did his brother,

Amidst a cavalcade of spice,

To possible enslavement,

Will his arrival there suffice?

Yosef planned this choreography,

Down to the last detail,

To proof the tshuva of his brothers,

He gives them every chance to fail.

Will they protect his little brother,

Will they jettison Shimon,

Those who from jealousy and hatred,

Cast him naked from his home?

Vayeishev

 בס״ד

Vayeishev

uncloaked

not so much revealed to others

as to oneself

arrogant, beautiful Yosef

twice disrobed

each fall followed by a winter

that leads to a spring

Yehudah, bound to lead his brothers

must drop his pretenses

in order to learn

to be just

one must be uncloaked

for as many times as it takes

until the clothing 

has nothing left

to hide

Vayishlach

 בס״ד

Vayishlach

Above Ephrata climbs a mountain road

that Yaakov and his family strode

footsteps ascending from Beit-El

 towards Beit Lechem

where now sleeps Rachel

Timeworn, a mikvah there is found

Shafan* and Shual* yet abound

fringed with fig and almond tree

springing waters, dancing Tzvi*

Past Neve Daniel and Alon Shvut,

Elazar crouching by its foot

Sde Boaz and Rosh Tzurim

like rungs in the ladder of Yaakov’s dream

Yaakov, Yaakov, Yisrael

by both names you bear your tale

along the track that draws you home

to Kiryat Arba, which is Chevron

* Shafan = hyrax, Shual = fox, Tzvi = gazelle

Vayeitze

 בס״ד

Vayeitze

apparitions may take many forms

a sulam with angels

or a shepherdess with her flocks

with our waking eyes

do we see better

than in our dreams

who is to say whether 

there is more truth

in the one than in the other

how many layers of perception

must one attain

to discern that there is often

little difference

a dream is a vision

we imagine we see

and seeing is only

what we envision it to be

Toldos

 בס״ד

Toldos

Without the dark, there is no light,

There is no day, but for the night,

Lacking silence, could one hear a voice?

If no evil, would there be a choice?

Yaakov grasping Esav’s heel,

An epic struggle there revealed,

If Yetzer Tov, by Rah be served,

A sacred balance is preserved.

And so it was from the very start,

Esav and Yaakov, at birth, must part,

Yet in each soul, another twin,

Lay cloaked, a conundrum, deep within.

Hidden sparks in Esav’s bones,

Of Shamaya and Avtalyon,

An ember, dim, of Rebbe Meir,

The Kedushas Levi says was there.

In Yaakov, kernels of Lavan,

Not to conquer, but improve upon,

In all of Yitzchok’s generations,

Seeds of ruin, and salvation.

Chayei Sarah

 בס״ד

Chayei Sarah

Had this field been ripe with grass

Of this, we’re never told

Or nourished flocks of bleating sheep

Shepherd beckoning to the fold

What worth this cave that dwells within

What secrets there unfold

Had some wanderer once sought shelter there

One stormy night, when the year was old

Approaching now with seasoned steps,

With foot like leather soled,

An aged man puts forth his hand, 

A deed of sale, behold

With humble reverence he lifted her

Her radiance shone, like gold

As he rested she in the cavern there

In the grotto, by the fold

Vayeira

 בס״ד

Vayeira

(l'ilui nishmas Avrum Weiss, zt"l)

Like Avraham, outside his tent,

He saw people standing over him,

Arising from his pain he sent,

His smiling face to welcome them.

Avraham served them as he’d offered,

Milk and lamb and wafers thin,

But this one, from within his coffers,

Serves words which nourish, from within.

Avraham helped them on their way,

As the Torah says a host should do,

But this one, he can but stay,

His love and laughter follow you.

Avraham’s angels came and went,

Each one charged with just one task,

What this one’s angels represent,

Is a question I am loath to ask.

Lech Lecha, Lech Lecha, Avraham, 

Lech Lecha, Avrum, my friend,

This world is filled with your ahavah,

Now bring joy to the heavens… amen.