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




Mikeitz