For the unfulfilled innate vow
to be ourselves
a vow deftly stolen from some
as AbrahamAbraham is the first patriarch and the father of the Jewish people. He is the husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God's covenant - that we will be a great people and inherit the land of Israel - begins with Abraham and is marked by his circumcision, the first in Jewish history. His Hebrew name is Avraham., obedient, nearly took
the life of IsaacAbraham and Sarah's much-longed-for son and the second Jewish patriarch. Isaac is nearly sacrificed by his father at God's command (Genesis 22). He is married to Rebecca and is the father of Esau and Jacob. His Hebrew name is Yitzchak., a still broken
vow unto himself,
as Esau’s birthright was by JacobLit. heel Jacob is the third patriarch, son of Isaac and Rebecca, and father to the twelve tribes of Israel. More than any of the other patriarchs, Jacob wrestles with God and evolves from a deceitful, deal-making young man to a mature, faithful partner to God. His Hebrew name is Yaakov.
a parent’s inclination determined one
blind and blazing event after another.
And history’s mothers, wily or with silent
tears interceding, and fathers, awesome
and mild, too present or unseeing, absent
introduce us to our future.
Until today bowed, humble
white tents about our heads
we seek
forgiveness
for the words
of our lives
we did not utter
that only our keepsake hearts
were free to speak.
