in honor of Cantor Richard Cohn
R’ Menachem Nachum of Chernoble:“…the exalted blessed Holy One on high, Who dresses and hides in different garbs: what She wears in the morning She does not wear in the evening “(Tikkunei Zohar 65a)
So much glory crowds God’s closet—multitudinous garments stretch into infinite space, each element destined to be unveiled in the fashion of Divine design.
Are they organized by color or size? Arranged according to purpose? Do angelic hosts oversee a rotation, setting out each ensemble on schedule, marking sacred time-shifts with matching outfits?
Perhaps She slips into whatever comes to hand, each choice exactly right for the occasion, each costume change as smooth as petals dripping from a spent flower, every shift a reminder that everything is impermanent.
Those days when She is feeling expansive? The nights when darkness fits more snugly than a little black dress? Then we see Her inimitable style writ large: She wraps the sky in a diaphanous rainbow-scarf, swirls a cape of glinting starlight across the heavens, accessorizes with a silver moon-disc set in a circlet of gold.
But most mornings, so predictable that you can set your clock by Her–unless She’s feeling a little blue and chooses grey–She dresses in brightest yellow, re-awakening us to a dazzling glimpse of Her love.
