if you have a wayward and defiant son who
does not heed or obey
take hold of him and bring him out to the
town elders and say to them
our son is disloyal and disobedient
thereupon they will tear down your darkest
desires your illusions of power your
desperate fantasy of control
thus will you sweep out the fears you’ve
wielded like weapons against
your child before he
was ever even
born
(Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
Occupy Wall St. Kol Nidre 2011 (photo by David A.M. Wilensky)
Some more of my new liturgy for the High Holidays. This one is an introduction to Kol Nidre:
Time now to summon the truth
that lies in the space between
our most exalted selves and
our darkest inclinations.
Time now to give each another permission
to open wide our hearts
and enter this most holy of holy places.
To bare our pain,
admit promises unkept, vows broken
and faith betrayed.
Within this sacred space in between
all are welcome:
the proud and the shamed,
those who fought their way
to the front of the line
and those left behind;
the joyful souls that sing out praises
and the wounded hearts that cry out
their pain.
Yes, you are welcome here.
In the space between the brightest day
and the darkest night
there is room
for all.
when you see your enemies in
the dark of night when you
close your eyes and see their
horses and chariots at every
turn you must do battle
with your fears let not your
courage falter
face down your panic and
dread
for it is the lord
your god that struggles with
you be strong and never forget
this is only the way
you can do the work
of peace
(Deuteronomy 20:1-4)
I see you standing there alone
eyes searching through the blankness
of a year stretching limitlessly on like a
book waiting to be written.
Don’t bother glancing behind.
Don’t pretend you’re unaware
that in a year’s time
a world can be shattered
or born anew.
Just gaze forward
and we’ll ask the questions together:
Will it be a year of curse
or a year of blessing?
Of wounding or
of healing?
Throw open your hands and
let your hopes and fears fly out
past the blank pages
of a year yet to be.
Dare to believe that we will all
be written for blessing in
the Book of Sweet, Sweet Life.
Now close your eyes and we’ll send off
this one audacious prayer:
May the new year bless us
with health, wholeness,
and peace.
when you enter the land of promise
you will not survive unless you
cut down the walls between
yourselves and others you must
learn from their ways gain
knowledge from their experience
grow compassion from their travail
and when you worship
your god look deep
into their eyes and know
that you are worshiping
theirs as
well.
(Deuteronomy 12:29-31)
the love that burns deep in your heart
the love that consumes everything
all that you think you are and
might ever be
bequeath it to your children
breathe it exhale it
shout it in the streets
dream it in your sleep
sing it when you wake
bind it tightly to your limbs feel
it entering your bloodstream
nail it pound it into warped
splintered door jams
carve its name in hearts on trees
then leap back and watch
as branches shoot up
yearning toward
the heavens.
(Deuteronomy 6:5-9)
the lord said to the israelites you
have been dancing on the edge
of your dread far too long now
descend into the land of seir and don’t
be afraid remember the night you
struggled desperately against a
dark riverbank flying beads of water
shining in the moonlight like jewels
of tribute when morning
broke you embraced your
reflection and saw the face of
god
now head down into
the valley you will
see there is nothing
to fear
(Deuteronomy 2:2-5)
This one is better late than never: Check out 17 year old Chicago slam poet Tova Benjamin perform her poem “I’m Not an Envelope Opener” at Louder Than a Bomb (a Chicago youth slam poetry competition) this past March. Her piece, which powerfully explores her upbringing as an orthodox Jew in West Rogers Park, helped her successfully advance to the final round of competition. Tova was one of the top thirteen individual poets in the festival, out of a field of over 800 young writers.
If you’re interested in learning more about Tova and her work, click here to hear her and another LTAB finalist, Keith Warfield, interviewed on Chicago Public Radio.
when pinchas saw an israelite
man and a midianite woman together he was
was seized by a zealous spirit he took a
spear followed them into their chamber and
stabbed them both through the
belly so many years later when
the israelites’ friendship with the
midianites was scarcely a footnote in the
history books pinchas died and here’s
what they wrote in his obit
as the grandson of the high priest he
was involved in the assassinations of many
moabites and midianites including cozbi
daughter of zur a prominent tribal
chieftain who had saved many
israelites from their enemies
years later pinchas reflected
a man who goes forth to take the life of another
whom he does not know
must believe only one thing
that by his act he will
change the course
of history.
(Numbers 25:6-18, with Financial Times article, “Unflinching Support of Greater Israel,” by Julian Ozanne, adapted)
he flinches and bows as
the stick lands on his
neck again and again
out of the corner of his
good eye he sees the angel of the
lord gesturing sadly toward the
setting sun if god had endowed
him with the gift of speech he’d
say i thought maybe one day
day i’d carry the messiah
himself then his legs buckle
beneath him and he collapses
and dies on the
side of the
road
(Number 22:21-30)
Yedid Nefesh 