a beloved friend tells me
there are two times in a Jew’s life
ShabbatShabbat is the Sabbath day, the Day of Rest, and is observed from Friday night through Saturday night. Is set aside from the rest of the week both in honor of the fact that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. On Shabbat, many Jews observe prohibitions from various activities designated as work. Shabbat is traditionally observed with festive meals, wine, challah, prayers, the reading and studying of Torah, conjugal relations, family time, and time with friends.
and waiting for Shabbat
this week I left behind those blessed hours
and was immediately filled with hunger for the next
Lekha Dodi calling me, saying:
רַב לָךְ שבֶת בְּעֵמֶק הַבָּכָא
וְהוּא יַחֲמול עָלַיִךְ חֶמְלָה
for too long you have been dwelling in the valley of tears
I said KaddishThe Aramaic memorial prayer for the dead. Mourners recite this prayer at every service, every day, in the presence of a minyan (prayer quorum) over the course of a year (for a parent) or thirty days (for a sibling or offspring). The prayer actually makes no mention of the dead, but rather prays for the sanctification and magnification of God's name. this week a thousandfold
ShloshimLit. Thirty The first thirty days after someone dies. This is an intermediate stage of mourning -- less intense than then initial week of shiva, but more intense than the remainder of the first year. It is customary not to shave or cut one's hair and not to attend social gatherings, parties, concerts etc during this time. for my dear friend
Yahrzeit(Yiddish) The anniversary of a death, usually marked by the lighting of a 24-hour yahrzeit candle and the recitation of Kaddish, the memorial prayer. For U.S. Jews, the unveiling of the headstone usually takes place on or around the first yahrzeit. for my uncle, dead twenty years
Kaddish for the Palestinians I’ve never met
falling under bombs and buildings
a seemingly neverending Kaddish
for there has not been
a single day without death
since October seventh
and each life is a world
and each world has ended
and each ending calls me
to seven days of shuttered mirrors
and remembering
I say Kaddish a thousandfold
the valley of tears separating me
from the world I see and touch
in fathoms
in leagues
I breathe in
breathe out
and imagine her
a hand outstretched
my second soul within it
and ache to hold her again
לִקְרַאת שבָּת לְכוּ וְנֵלְכָה
כִּי הִיא מְקור הַבְּרָכָה
