Hope and Think

k
We play our own game
Each with our own divine form
One G-d, many plays

;

The above seventeen syllables, I hope and think, say a great deal in both senses of the term. There were 12 gates to the Temple mount, each of Jacob's 12 sons set up a holy tribe, there are 70 faces to the Torah. Thre are 13 unbendable principles, what Rabbi Abraham Twerski gets from that is that regarding everything else there is latitude, other thoughts are up to us.

cucumber salad
alive days after she's died
how long can it last?

j

This tells a true story. I can't find where I posted it before, but I know I did. I posted it now because I just found the original version on the scrap I wrote it on. I think it may be better than the one I put up before. It's a story of love.

k

On a possibly related note: Isn't it amazing how we experience life through several senses? We remember with our heads and hearts, also with our eyes and ears, even with our mouths. Underrated, yet powerful, is how we experience and recall through our sense of smell.

a shofar inside
screams louder than any words
inside of us all

l

"To You silence is praise." The shofar represents praying without words. Some would call it a primal scream. I think it serves as a reminder of the shofar inside, the "quiet desperation."

Images stay young
While the real people grow old
Old is a good thing

l

America is youth centered. It seems to me that G-d, as we understand Him, is people centered. With out young and our old we will go." There are commands to respect elders. There are no such commands about the young. And yet...

l

"You redeem often:"
Most truly put to G-d as
a defining trait

k

Our life's mission can be summed up in the words "Mah Hu Af Atah..." We are implored to emulate G-d. G-d redeems often. We should too.

Not empty handed

Don't send me away that way

G-d please show mercy

(based on Shomei'a Tefilla)

l

Every now and then I realize that Shemoneh Esrei is heart wrenchingly beautiful. "King, don't send us away from you empty handed." Sigh.