בס״ד
Beshalach
a pillar of cloud, and a pillar of fire
guide us forward, night and day
one a mist, and one a flame
yet, when placed behind us
as if to say: “We have your back”
they join to keep Egypt at bay
a shield of deepest darkness
and a blaze of illuminating light
two incompatible elements
like burning hail, or body and soul
revealed, to be one
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.
