My husband took the name, Ivri,
The Hebrew;
The border-crosser.
He took it because
in his life he’s crossed
many a border.
So too, have I.
So too, am I crossing now.
So too, did my crossing begin
October 7th–
a day my world changed,
and forever.
What is a border,
if not a boundary?
What is a boundary,
if it is not a limit?
What is a limit,
if not a line?
What good is a line
if it is not compassionate?
The mystics teach that compassion
is the result of unending chesedLit. Kindness It is said in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers)Â that the world stands on three things: Torah (learning), Avodah (worship), and Gemilut Hasidim (acts of kindness).
contained within discerning gevurah.
Every human life is sacred;
Every human lifeÂ
a spark of the Divine.
There is a lineÂ
drawn by darkness,
emboldened by Evil, itself.
Compassion–rachamim–
fruit of the womb of ShekhinahThe feminine name of God, expounded upon in the rabbinic era and then by the Kabbalists in extensive literature on the feminine attributes of the divine., Herself.
We are stretching because of this birthing;
We are pained because of this blood.
