Shemini Ateres/Simchas Torah/V'Zos HaBracha

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Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah/V'Zos HaBracha

No particular mitzvah for Shemini Atzeres,

But that is, perhaps, the greatest challenge,

No sukkah, no lulav, no wavings,

Just one last, shimmering drop of golden honey.

Shlomo HaMelech asked only for wisdom,

But is wisdom enough to bring simcha?

Is it prerequisite to see both the light and dark,

To find joy in the many shades of Torah?

We wed ourselves once again to the Shechina,

Two chasanim, each for a different beginning,

Seven circles we dance with her,

Our Kallah, our source of life and bina.

We started by declaring Melech,

We conclude by wedding Malka,

Somewhere in between, if the balance is right,

Joy becomes indistinguishable from wisdom.

V’zos HaBracha.

Shabbos Chol HaMoed Sukkos

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Shabbos Chol HaMoed Sukkos

The Torah rolls back to Shemos today,

Where we’re told very clear not to mingle,

Too keep far away from them and their gods,

And other such myths, like Kris Kringle. 

He tells us that He is a “jealous” God,

Now, if jealousy’s a sin, how is that?!

Is this something we’re ‘sposed to emulate?!

Calm down, and we’ll have a nice a chat.

Such misunderstandings can often occur,

So let me explain, my sweet moppet,

 Jealousy’s aim is to protect what is yours,

To want what’s Not yours, that’s to “covet”.

If God is so jealous ‘bout Am Yisroel,

It must be that He don’t want to lose us,

Which means, I suspect, He considers us His,

So keep your hands off us, Confucius.

Besides, He can’t covet,

The reason is this,

There’s nothing outside Him,

It’s already His.

Sukkos

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Sukkos

The garden has faded,

The fall harvest done,

The last bunch of thyme

In the sukkah is hung.

The basil is gone,

The parsley is finished,

The cucumbers wilted,

The tomatoes diminished.

We’ve called out to HaShem,

And prayed for His grace,

Now enclosed in His arms,

We can feel His embrace.

 Time to sit and take stock,

To give thanks for the land,

And be quietly grateful,

For the gifts from His hand.

Haazinu

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Haazinu

Songs of Moshe and of Dovid,

Like gentle waves, they break upon us, 

Not words alone, but music,

Notes, and rhythms, and harmonies.

From down the generations they come to us,

Each voice, each nusach, each trop,

Ineffable truths, heard differently now,

Echoing in the ears of our time.

Yom Kippur

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Yom Kippur

Like our days, which revolve

Around evening and morning,

So do our years convolve

Around our Seventh Months.

Nisan and Tishrei are doubles,

Each a seventh, and also a first,

Like the Earth, the year wobbles,

Between these two poles.

Can we say which is morning, which evening?

Does Freedom follow from Accountability?

Or must Responsibility, from Freedom, spring?

Which begets which?

The strands of this double helix,

Reach deep into each soul,

With each revolution a new contribution,

More sustainable than the last.

Nisan is the month of Spring and warmth,

Tishrei, the month of Fall, brings crispness,

Only a week of months separates them,

Sisters, like one Shabbos and the next.

Vayeilech/Shabbos Shuva

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Vayeilech/Shabbos Shuva

Be strong and courageous,

do not be afraid.

Be strong and courageous,

know Who goes before you.

Be strong and courageous,

you will lead them into the land.

Be strong and courageous,

I shall be with you.

It takes strength and courage,

to ask for forgiveness.

It takes strength and courage,

to open your heart.

You are strong and courageous,

when I am in your midst.

You are strong and courageous,

when, like Me, you desire kindness.

Rosh HaShanah

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Rosh HaShanah

Av HaRachamim,

You know from the rechem who we are,

Like Avraham, sanctified from the womb,

So Your name, Rachamim, is plural,

As a mother’s love can’t be plumbed,

So rechem is just the beginning

of many kindnesses.

Rachamim is more than chesed,

Avraham didn’t spare his son,

But you, HaShem, did,

You saw what he had done,

And you lifted his heart upwards,

From kindness to tenderness.

So, though our dove offerings have ceased,

We need not lose hope,

We feel Avraham’s presence, as we recount,

How his emunah pshuta, 

Drew down rachamim pshutim,

And a new offering, soared to the Heavens.

Inspired by the slicha אם אפס רבע הקן in the Sefardi nusach