Ki Savo

 בס״ד

Ki Savo

Brachas and klalahs,

From Grizim and Eval,

Floating out of the valley,

Where the Levi’im intone.

Amen, we say, again and again,

How can one say amen to a klalah -

May it be Thy will, HaShem,

To punish us as needed?

We give our lives over,

Not only for onesh, but for skhar,

To Him alone, is our consent granted,

To kiss, or to chastise.

A child gives permission to another,

To praise and to scold,

But it must be earned,

There must first be, relationship.

A grandchild must first trust,

Before looking into the eyes,

And accepting the embrace,

Of a grandfather.

Ki Seitze

 בס״ד

Ki Seitze

A hated’s first son must inherit,

But not so with Leah’s Reuven,

Yosef is Rochel’s, but he’s sold away,

To Mitzrayim he goes down in chains.

Yishmael does not get the bochura,

And Esav the Ruddy gets shunned,

And both bochurim might well be described,

As wayward rebellious sons.

But if we heed Avraham’s example,

And that of Yitzchak as well,

And Yaakov, too, when it comes down to that,

There’s an alternate pattern to tell. 

The more laws the better it seems,

Ask any Israeli official,

But breaking the rules is our national sport,

Our models are extra-judicial.

Shoftim

 בס״ד

Shoftim

Where have they gone,

Leaders by a greater light guided,

Not out of pride,

But out of calling.

Where might they be found,

Those humble ones,

Who only reluctantly leave the peace,

 of home, farm, village.

Where are the ones who toil,

Not for horses, nor wives,

Nor silver, nor gold,

But for a higher purpose.

Where should we search,

For one who treasures the klal,

And cherishes the prat,

And teaches by example.

Look to the one who remains above the fray,

Who learns from the errors of our past,

And thus, to whom we are all inclined,

To listen.

Re'eh

 בס״ד

Re’eh

it seems we must be high or low,

to blessed be, or cursed,

the middle ground is not for us,

for to be nowhere’s even worse.

should we live our lives avoiding,

focused on the “Thou Shalt Nots”,

or should we, with love, embrace them both,

not rope ourselves in knots.

“kadesh atzmecha b’mutar lach”,

be sanctified in what is permitted,

give them equal zest, that’s what is best,

accomplish both with simcha.

the bracha is to serve HaShem,

with no sadness be alloyed,

the curse, perhaps, ta’aseh or lo,

without a sense of joy.

but someplace in the middle,

we’re neither here nor there,

as if to say, if right or wrong,

i really do not care.