בס״ד
Maaseh
It’s time that we look back upon,
The places where we’ve been,
The lessons that we’ve learned from them,
The sparks that hid therein.
First we came to Midbar Sin,
Then reached Midbar Sin-ai,
And the journey ends in Midbar Tzin,
They sound similar, but why?
Does each wilderness have what to teach,
From a slightly different frame?
Or is it we who’ve been transformed,
So the message seems to change?
בס״ד
Mattos
It’s payback time for Midian,
This is Moshe’s curtain call,
Though they’re of the blood of Yisro,
It is by the sword they’ll fall.
We spared the young men and the women,
Then were rebuked for this mistake,
Which echoes down to King Shaul,
In Israel’s war with Amalek.
Did Zipporah live to see this,
A Midian-ess by birth?
Or was she spared this final grief,
And rested in the earth?
בס״ד
Pinchas
Korach’s son’s will live on,
To bless us with song,
As we’re makriv korban and libation.
And Pinchas, with love,
By a word from Above,
Embraces his priestly vocation.
Now it’s just Yehoshuah,
And Calev ben Yephunah,
Who remain from the Dor HaMidbar.
So the path is now clear,
To approach without fear,
The land Moshe eyes from afar.
בס״ד
Balak
Avraham was instructed “Lech Lecha”,
Was this really a command?
Moshe was advised “Shelach Lecha”,
Was the decision in his hands?
Bilaam was instructed “Kum Lech”,
And he responded with “get up and go”,
Was this an order or an option?
Now, how is one to know?
They say HaShem will aid you,
In the way you want to travel,
But reconsider your direction,
Should your best laid plans unravel.
בס״ד
Chukas
Red cows without blemish,
Then Miriam dies,
At Tzin, in the Land of Kadesh.
Then the waters dry up,
And the people now turn,
On her brother - their leader - Reb Maysh.
Moshe strikes the rock twice,
Without having a chat,
To convince that reluctant fountain.
And in wording redundant,
Aaron goes to his grave,
Ascending the heights of Mount Mountain.
The Book of the Wars of HaShem,
Is brought down,
As if we are apt to know it.
And Israel takes all of the Amorite towns,
That were Sichon’s…
Per the words of some poet!
בס״ד
Korach
Korach’s gang brings burning incense,
In a challenge to their Rav.
Did they learn next to nothing,
From Abihu and Nadav?
Yet there is a clearer vision,
That comes out of this disaster:
Each Jew’s tafkid is designer made,
A craft he’s called to master.
No one else can fill your shoes,
Not in our theology,
Every link is joined together,
In a celestial ecology.
Each Kohain must take pains to shield,
The Levi from overreaching,
Each Levi, then, protects and serves,
The Am, to whom he’s preaching.
And, with love, each Jew provides,
For the families of the Levi’im,
And they, in turn, take maaser from that,
For their brothers, the Kohan’im.
בס״ד
Shelach
This Parsha teaches us a lesson,
But we have yet to learn it,
Though the Land of Israel is a gift,
Still, we have to earn it.
