Autumn, realm of the world to come.
Gazelles move like writing,
cautious and surefooted,
invisible in fog.
Face north toward
the source of storms and
what is unfinished and hidden,
say our ancestors.
Stand firm in the time of withering
and plant the seeds of winter barley.
Take in the scent and sight of remnants,
crisp myrtle leaves,
sweetness of drying etrogs,
burnished red of pomegranates that resist decay.
RachelLavan's younger daughter and Jacob's beloved wife second wife (after he is initially tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah). Rachel grieves throughout her life that she is barren while Leah is so fertile. Ultimately, Rachel gives birth to Joseph and dies in childbirth with Benjamin. Rachel is remembered as compassionate (she is said to still weep for her children), and infertile women often invoke Rachel as a kind of intercessor and visit her tomb on the road to Bethlehem. once traded a night with her shared husband for an aphrodisiac,
love apples poisonous in quantity,
and after years unlocked secrets of timing:
her power to conceive,
to give birth and die in haste,
to speak for her exiled children
in Heshvan, month of the forever unknown.
