21 Sivan 5772
A little piece of my soul
crept down my cheek
and fell,
falling,
falling,
falling,
through empty space
filled with nothing
except that sometimes
it was filled with hugs
and laughter
but really, it was empty.
And my little piece of soul
fell
until it struck a table
and then it could fall no more.
It is gone, that piece,
and my soul is something else now,
or rather,
it is more a part of me,
but in a new way
because I have given it up.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
We Are Brothers
Nissan 18 5772
Tefillin straps on
his head leave a wave. The first
wave of a deep ocean.
Tefillin straps on
his head leave a wave. The first
wave of a deep ocean.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Five Words
17 Tishrei 5773
Five Words to Describe Yourself
The paper said “choose five
words.” It took six words
to ask the question. ‘Is
something wrong, miss? Are not
these five small lines enough?’
Well, it won’t be enough!
I am not just five
of anything- not ideas, not
pictures, and certainly not words.
I don’t think anyone is.
No-one that I know is
quite this or that enough
that all the many words
in the world but five
do not describe and cannot
be part of what not
tells you who he is,
but shows you only five
small windows not clear enough
to even see through words.
This cage is of words.
Walls of stone could not
even have the strength enough
to hold back what is
between you, me and five.
Five words is not enough.
Five Words to Describe Yourself
The paper said “choose five
words.” It took six words
to ask the question. ‘Is
something wrong, miss? Are not
these five small lines enough?’
Well, it won’t be enough!
I am not just five
of anything- not ideas, not
pictures, and certainly not words.
I don’t think anyone is.
No-one that I know is
quite this or that enough
that all the many words
in the world but five
do not describe and cannot
be part of what not
tells you who he is,
but shows you only five
small windows not clear enough
to even see through words.
This cage is of words.
Walls of stone could not
even have the strength enough
to hold back what is
between you, me and five.
Five words is not enough.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Queer Bird
"And Aharon stretched his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the Frog rose and covered the land of Egypt"
-Exodus 8:2
"Vata'al Hasefardeia." And the Frog rose.
Most translations render this passage as 'the frogs rose,' but the verse actually writes in the singular. The frog rose. The midrash elaborates on this and affirms that there was originally only one large frog. The Egyptians tried to rid themselves of it by striking it, but to no avail, for each time they struck the frog another one would be spawned. And so they struck the offspring of this frog, but those frogs too only responded by increasing in number. The harder the Egyptians tried to get rid of all the frogs the more of them there were until they had covered all the land.
When I first heard this story the irony struck me. The foolish Egyptians, despite seeing over and over again that their efforts backfired, continued to blindly pursue their course of action. Driven by their strong aversion to this frog they abandoned reason, and failed to even recognize that they were making their own problem worse.
This story is a metaphor for the experience of the Jewish People in Egypt, and in all exiles. The more we are persecuted, the more we are struck, the more we revitalize. Exile does not weaken us, it makes us stronger.
Throughout history, nations have made the mistake of the Egyptians. Directed by a singular hatred, they abandoned sense in their quests to repel us. Despite all this, never did we die. Each tragedy was transformed by G-d into a victory. We are struck, time and time again, yet we continue to grow.
Imagine then, what lies at the end of this longest of exiles. After two thousand years of being stricken imagine how great we will emerge.
And now, a song in honor of the frog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHwwJkKp7Oo&playnext=1&list=PL4B28C0E1071207EB&feature=results_main
or, if you don't listen to women sing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TithIgzHZTg
-Exodus 8:2
"Vata'al Hasefardeia." And the Frog rose.
Most translations render this passage as 'the frogs rose,' but the verse actually writes in the singular. The frog rose. The midrash elaborates on this and affirms that there was originally only one large frog. The Egyptians tried to rid themselves of it by striking it, but to no avail, for each time they struck the frog another one would be spawned. And so they struck the offspring of this frog, but those frogs too only responded by increasing in number. The harder the Egyptians tried to get rid of all the frogs the more of them there were until they had covered all the land.
When I first heard this story the irony struck me. The foolish Egyptians, despite seeing over and over again that their efforts backfired, continued to blindly pursue their course of action. Driven by their strong aversion to this frog they abandoned reason, and failed to even recognize that they were making their own problem worse.
This story is a metaphor for the experience of the Jewish People in Egypt, and in all exiles. The more we are persecuted, the more we are struck, the more we revitalize. Exile does not weaken us, it makes us stronger.
Throughout history, nations have made the mistake of the Egyptians. Directed by a singular hatred, they abandoned sense in their quests to repel us. Despite all this, never did we die. Each tragedy was transformed by G-d into a victory. We are struck, time and time again, yet we continue to grow.
Imagine then, what lies at the end of this longest of exiles. After two thousand years of being stricken imagine how great we will emerge.
And now, a song in honor of the frog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHwwJkKp7Oo&playnext=1&list=PL4B28C0E1071207EB&feature=results_main
or, if you don't listen to women sing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TithIgzHZTg
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