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Category: General

Manna, and More

Manna, and More

Manna dropped softly on the harsh desert sands, our daily portion of bread from heaven, yes, we said, this would suffice! but the generations of the leech cried out: Give, give, ever sucking, never sated, always hungry. We wanted more. Next came the quails, those erring migrants, nightfall’s stragglers entangled in our nets, and yes we said, this could suffice! and still the generations of the leech cried out: Give, give, ever sucking, never sated, always hungry. We wanted more. A crimson cloud unfurled in the east, dawn’s herald of…

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Dig That Well

Dig That Well

And Isaac dug again the wells from the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham… And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there the Well of Living Waters. (Gen. 26:18) Shall we sip once again the waters of innocence, drink deep from the pool of wonderment? That won’t be easy, because the wells are sealed now. The Philistines did it, after father Abraham died They filled them up with…

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Day of Awe

Day of Awe

1 Morning: Preludes Who towers above all, may we sculpt your silence with a new song? Who hovers over the ocean swell, may we ripple your stillness with whispered entreaties? Who lies buried under fields of forgotten dreams, may we rekindle your joy with praying lips? 2 Afternoon: The Breaking of the Vessels The smoldering mountain moves, it roars, shudders, shaking off unwanted pious courtesies. A hard northwesterly chops the wintry seas, and sharks scent their prey, a drowning man….

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Things

Things

אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי, אֶל-הֶהָרִים–    מֵאַיִן, יָבֹא עֶזְרִי I shall lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall come my help? Psalm 121 You raise your eyes to the mountains, peering ever upwards, climbing, searching. You can’t see a thing. You draw close to the summit. The sky is dazzling bright, and you are blinded by the glare. All is white. You see nothing. Dear H’, is this the Awesome Nothingness? Is this the Infinite Aleph from which all things…

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Incident On the Road to the Tree of Life

Incident On the Road to the Tree of Life

אָז יְרַנְּנוּ כָּל עֲצֵי יָעַר Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy (Psalm 96) Weary from the journey, he paused in a hillside grove — pines and juniper, black oaks and wild plums. “Stay,” the trees  beckoned. “Stay, rest a while, and listen to our song.” “I must go on,” he replied. “The summons is strong.” “Touch our leaves, finger our needles,” they insisted. “Smell our scents, taste our fallen fruits.” “My master calls,” he answered. “I…

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Double Vision

Double Vision

ועינינו תראינה מלכותך “May our eyes may see your Kingdom.” In its purely literal sense this prayer expresses a yearning that we may witness messianic redemption in our own days.  However, it can also be interpreted as relating not to anticipation of a future dispensation but to cultivating an ability to perceive the Kingdom as it exists now, in the present. For this purpose, the Source of all has blessed us with the gift of two inner eyes. The gaze…

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Mountaintop Deliberations

Mountaintop Deliberations

1. Reflective Priests מִי-יַעֲלֶה בְהַר-יְהוָה;    וּמִי-יָקוּם, בִּמְקוֹם קָדְשׁוֹ Who shall ascend into the mountain of H’? and who shall stand in that holy place? Only one who has clean hands, a pure heart, and has not taken the Name in vain. (Psalm 24) Hands now soft and gentle, his kind fingers turn the pages of sacred texts. But the stains remain. May he ascend that Mountain? Voice now crisp and clear, her mellow tongue chants endless solemn hymns. But…

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The Laziness of Lovers

The Laziness of Lovers

קוֹל דּוֹדִי דוֹפֵק At first blush the Song of Songs is an unlikely candidate for inclusion in the biblical canon. An apparently secular narrative poem, it describes the love between a man and a young woman living in ancient Judea, in and around Jerusalem. The language is sensual and boldly erotic, while the story-line mingles moments of passionate yearning and tender consummation with episodes of sharp grief at loss and separation. There is no explicit mention of God, Torah, or…

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Follow the Faint Traces

Follow the Faint Traces

אוֹר זָרֻעַ לַצַּדִּיק “The light that is sown for the seeker” The Primal Utterance, “Let there be light,”  precedes all. Even before there was time, with its evenings and its mornings, its first days and its second days, there was light. This first light is not the same as that of the sun and the moon, which were created only on the fourth day.  Those great luminaries are ever in flux, and with their waxing and waning they make possible…

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Too Sacred to Sing

Too Sacred to Sing

אֲסַפְּרָה כְבוֹדְךָ וְלֹא רְאִיתִֽיךָ, אֲדַמְּךָ אֲכַנְּךָ וְלֹא יְדַעְתִּֽיךָ   “I shall describe your Glory, though  I have not seen You; I shall envisage your Face, I shall name your Name, though I know You not.” There is an imagination, call it fancy, or fantasy, that looks inward, like a mirror, delighting in the unreal fabrications of its own psyche; there is an imagination, call it inventive, that turns outward, to the uncreated new, to the world of the potential, toward…

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