בס״ד
Re’eh
There is a void
and they fill it
with meat
It’s odd that through
consuming flesh
our soul might come
to be nourished
Not the simple act of eating
like that of the beast
which we consume
To elevate, to raise,
to offer up
through a higher service
the physical to the spiritual
Thus the taavahs
of heaven and earth
are reconciled
בס״ד
Eikev
The parsha of Eikev arrives on the heels,
Of V’eschanan’s Aseres HaDivros,
Yet the gematria of עקב is 172,
The count of the words back in Yisro.
189 words by V’eschanan’s count,
Subtract and you get 17,
The gematria’s טוב, so it’s all very good,
We should learn from this difference, it seems.
Words can’t fully express a thought or idea,
As a poet I know this too well,
God gave over at Sinai the thoughts in the words,
Which takes more than one phrasing to tell.
Torah Sh’bichtav contains Torah Sh’baal peh,
We could learn from these Divros’ differences,
Our Torah is read with both lyric and song,
Because concepts are broader than sentences.
So when treading the path of the mitzvos,
Step lightly and keep a sharp eye,
What seems little’s not smaller,
What seems big isn’t taller,
On that you can surely rely.
בס״ד
V’eschanan
Moshe has implored before,
And never been rebuffed,
He pleads again in this parsha,
But now he’s told “Enough”!
I suggest this plea is different,
Than his appeals of other days,
He entreated then for his People,
Now it’s for himself he prays.
I’ve heard another explanation,
Why he couldn’t reach the Land,
If HaShem had let him enter,
Geula would have been at hand.
Sounds like some rationalization,
That our mesorah tries to sell,
“If only we’d done such-and-such,
All would have turned out well”.
On my tougher days it seems as if,
We’re playing blind man’s bluff,
And no matter what we might have done,
It would not have been “enough”.
So if it’s all the same to you,
I’ll stick with my suggestion,
And beseech HaShem for others,
One of Moshe’s final lessons.
This is the hope I cling to,
On this Shabbos of consolation,
Please, my brother, take my hand,
And together find redemption.
בס״ד
Devarim
Enough already,
The time to recover from eggel and onesh
is over,
Gone is the moment for licking wounds and
taking stock,
Now is the time to leave Har Chorev.
Rav L’Chem
Enough already,
Your time in the wilderness
is past,
Around and around Seir, this mount of Esav,
you have circled,
The time is ripe, the Land awaits.
Rav L’Chem
Enough already,
It is time for you to gather your strength,
and for me to be gathered.
Yehoshua will lead you,
move forward without delay,
Without me, yet in my footsteps.
L’Chayim!
HaRav L’Chem
בס״ד
Mattos-Maaseh
How fortunate is the woman who
having made a vow
can be released by husband or father
How blessed is the man who has
a wife or a daughter
who vows out of love for HaShem and His Torah
How favored is the man whose wife,
knowing better,
advises him not to vow in the first place
And a wise man is heedful of the binah
whispering softly to him
from within a woman’s eyes
בס״ד
Pinchas
Sometimes we’re judged by where we are,
Like Yishmael beneath the tree,
Or, like Moav, not on what you have done,
But on what in the future will be.
The tribes of Midian will be destroyed,
But weren’t these the ones,
Who sheltered Moshe long ago?
Yet Amalek lives on?
בס״ד
Balak
Once the angel has departed
What has the man become?
The donkey has been given speech,
The man has been
Struck dumb.
