What does it mean for us,
Jews of Diaspora
hands more accustomed to the click and whirr of the computer
than to the rhythm of plow and scythe
to talk of sheaves and barley harvests
as if they were our measure of time?
What does it mean to count up,
a hopeful expectation of fulfillment to come,
than to count down
to the certain cynicism of another day,
week following week of mundane offerings
which lack all hint sublime?
Children count up, saying,
“I’m almost seven!”
Some of us long to be forever 29…
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. was told to count the stars in the heavens
we number in sevens the weeks:
Forty-nine plus one day, but a moment in time.
Counting from conception to birth,
wondering
will the harvest be brought?
This time will Abel’s offering and Cain’s be judged the same
and what, exactly, will it be worth?
Upward motion, we wave
our humble grain, saying
“See here! See here!”
Here we are again.