Hanukkah by night
Hanukkah
by night
by days and nights
candles
prayers by song
and there are meals together
for
conversation
and there is play
it is the Temple miracle
eight lights
for
the time before supplies
arrived
and on their own
the lights
to sanctify
the space be sacrosanct
again
blue
silver
visits
dreidel
chocolate
and
a festive attitude
persisting all the week
and
why not
the love of God evident through
miracle
endowing the return
and
we could meet in Jerusalem
next year
c l couch
Photo by Katie Rainbow š³ļøāš on Unsplash--āA colorful nine-branched Hanukkah menorah, also known as a āHanukkiahā. Handmade out of colored paper.ā
baruch
Yom Kippur
that I donāt fully understand
but that is happening
now
sunset Friday
to nightfall
Saturday
(which is today)
and this year
no doubt
there will be praying for the closeness
of God
upon the hostages
held by Hamas
and not by the Palestinian people
generally
the day is for repentance
to ask forgiveness of
the Lord
so that we might be restored
and reconciled
but something Iāve been told is that
the day before
Erev Yom Kippur
is a day for asking forgiveness
of each other
we forgive each other
and then
we may ask forgiveness of God
ten days for repentance
actually
between Rosh Hashanah and
now
the Christian doctrinal story
is about
leaving oneās gift before the altar
to go
make up with oneās sibling
(should
there be conflict)
and thus being
truly
prepared
even according to priorities
to go to
present at the altar
to have time
with the Lord
and be open to fullest forgiveness
forgive each other first
then ask
forgiveness of God
I think thatās how the teaching goes
in two traditions
maybe more
I donāt
know
I could be wrong
of course
But might God bless
the devout
on Yom Kippur
and
direct us all toward
reconciliation
c l couch
photo by Jeanne Rouillard on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
A Jazz Singer
(for Paul)
x
The jazz singer
Being Jewish in a
Family
x
Wanting to be famous
Have a talent
To be
Tested
And a wish to be excused
From doctrinaire
Behaviors
While accepted
For the seder
Or when showing up
As the schedule
In being famous
Might allow
x
A public
Served
Entertained
Inspired
Is that enough
Is that acceptable
Against
Acceptable
Through generations
x
And the ones
Unprodigal
Who keep it all
And might remember
Those
Who do return
x
Remember whom
The empty chair
Is for
And would
In turn
Be welcoming
From the prophet
Of the one
Who reconfigures things
To save
With pleasure
Inside notes and rhythms
For a larger
Needful
World
x
So keep the second chair
Upon
Returning
Leant against the wall
And ready
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
A Count of Days
x
The Sabbath comes
And in ten days
And counting more
Is Hanukkah
Lights and chocolate
Latkes and other gifts
Of earth
And from each other
x
Blue and silver
Days and nights
The nights show off the lights
That show the miracle
When we got our temple
Back
To find it desecrated
And no fuel for lamps
We lighted them anyway
And they burned eight days
For us
And for our faith
x
Weāre not perfect
We need to keep commandments,
After all
That remind us
And our neighbors
And the world
But we own miracles as well
As the menorah
And the gifts
And the food
And the blue nights
Shall show us
As the first time
The grace and love
And strength of God
For us
In faith
And you
In yours
If we may say,
Welcome to our festival
x
C L Couch
9th of Kislev (after sundown), 5783
x
x
Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
An Inadequate Understanding
x
The Torah tells us how to live
The Talmud makes it real
The Jews worship on Friday
And on many other occasions
Their community has its
Not so pleasant parts, Iām sure
But I find it beautiful
I find them beautiful
When I was invited to
Rosh Hashanah services by a
Friend, because my birthday
Coincided as it sometimes has
x
Also Yom Kippur
But anyway,
Talk about evangelism
Accidental maybe, since Jews
Donāt promote for converts as
A rule
But living out the faith in friendshipā
Not bad, not bad
Christians of the children faith,
Take note
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Tetiana SHYSHKINA on Unsplash
door to the Jewish cheder in Krakow
(a kind of school that sadly I have not attended)
x
A Now That Must Also Look Ahead
Itās Tuesday
Itās a nuthinā day
A sick day
Among sick days
The noveltyās worn off
Some learningās needed
With the cooking
And the cleaning
The boxing
(of both kinds)
All the games that
Walls and cyber-walls allow
Thank goodness, we can
Look outside and go there
Thereās real talking, too
In many ways
A face to face
Thatās a comfort
And we learn from this
A different kind
Of schooling, maybe
There are books
Paper and pencil, too
Or let them be totems for
Pens or the electron kind,
What it all might represent
The faces
All the forms
We can through this, now
Until the angel passes
Our own kind of rite
The Jewish own so well
Singing for pass-over
Blood upon the lintel
Chair for the prophet, should
The prophet come to call
Food, some of it with bitter herbs
But everything we need
For the journey
Into such desert and
At last
A homeland
The Passover is family
Each tradition has its form
And if we have none,
What better time than pandemicās
For making something new?
For the world needs cleaning
Not a purging
But a dusting off
Soap and water
Disinfectant for the worst
While we wait
Research
And wait
With everything that passes over
Having something of the new
Inside,
Maybe inexorably, ineffably
Once shared,
New ritual
Based on care for what weāve learned
Of who weāve been
And who we are
Again and for the first time
As for death and mourning,
Each tradition knows that well
And those without
However we might feel
I donāt know how to count
While others do
Remember, in the future,
It was this kind of plague
I might not be here
Or another witness
Closer and more qualified
Youāll have to have a story
Back to learning, again
Sad lessons
And tragic
And a void
We learn this other kind of life
Lived through emptiness
It is time for a wake, the Irish say
(who also know bread
and bitter herbs for sin and hope,
Irish Jews more so)
Though this party if too big
Too many coffins to line up
Along the bar
What the dead drink
Will do nothing for a tab
Only take coins in readiness for
Ferry pilots
Announced by banshees
These groups I know a little of
You have your own
And stories
Set them down and tell them
Try not to worry about variants
They happen
There is a narrative here
Part of the story of the Earth
If we tell it well,
The Earth might weep
For us
C L Couch
Holey Week 3
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