BaMidbar

 בס״ד

BaMidbar

“These are the sons of Aaron and Moshe,”

But they’re only the children of Aaron,

Although Moshe’s sons are included as well,

They’re counted in the family of Amrom.

And for the first time, Aaron, the first born,

Gets direction directly from G-d.

Something is changing here in BaMidbar,

Accounting for this will be hard.

Moshe still leads his People, but no longer his Tribe,

Aaron and his sons serve the Mishkan.

And as we’ll learn later,

We must “count” on ourselves,

For there’ll be no one else to lay blame on.

Bechukosai

 בס״ד

Bechukosai

I’ve been looking into what “keri” means,

It’s sometimes defined as frivolous,

And this was the source of our worst nightmares,

Behavior vain and imperious.

The shmitas were particularly critical,

And the following year of Yovel,

But we took credit for our bounty,

And because of that we fell.

We were scattered among the Nations,

’Til we make up for all those shmitas,

How many we’ve missed,

 And when they’re finally paid up,

Is open to different shitas.

Behar

 בס״ד

Behar

Har Sinai heard each word He said,

Atop her granite shoulders:

“A mountain, too, is a feeling thing,

I’m not just rocks and boulders.”

“I skipped with joy when they were freed,

But won’t feel their tilled embrace,

HaAretz will for six whole years.”

A tear ran down her face.

“From my shrouded peak they heard the call,

So what am I? Chopped liver?

My stony arms felt no caress.”

She reflected with a quiver.

Emor

 בס״ד

Emor

The Kohanim are the sons of Aaron,

Their yichus is not something they’ve earned,

They must conduct themselves with special care,

Their behavior must be carefully learned.

The son of a Mitzri and an Israelite lass,

Shelomis bas Divri of Dan,

Didn’t have to blaspheme in the way that he did,

He didn’t have to be that kind of man.

ben Shelomis was born of a humbler line,

Yet he could have become someone great,

A Kohain descends from a Gadol Hador,

Yet he still could end up second rate.

A wise man once said that yichus is just

A string of one or more zeros,

It’s up to us to put value up front,

Only then might we become heroes.