And on Rosh Hashannah! This is the shofarA ram's horn that is blown on the High Holidays to "wake us up" and call Jews to repentance. It is also said that its blast will herald the coming of the messiah. sounding. If ever that old ram’s horn made a sound, this is that sound. You can hear it. You can feel it. The axe to the frozen sea of the heart. Justice Ginsburg, may you be even more powerful in the hereafter. By the beards of every old sage, by the scholars and pedants and geniuses and mystics who invented the law, by the men of old and their veiled bride the TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general., by the infinite mysteries of women! By the power of the mother which yet terrifies the world! By Venus and the 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. in whose beauty the dream of justice was born, by the equinox we’re speeding toward and the balance of day and night we must face without you, by the slow erosion of our soul and the taxation of our love and the destitution of our spirit, do not leave us! Follow us, hound us, goad us, haunt us, teach us, love us, show us, stay with us and stay us. For we are sick with love. Be with us. Come closer now. Let us be as your little children and grandchildren, now that the official part of your toil is over—the daytime of your career now past—now that you have graduated, now that you are our ancestor. Treat us fondly, be stern with us, show us the way, put us to work, give us no rest, give us no peace, command us! Let your example burn through us, be our gold, be our gemstone, be our heart. Let your heart be our heart!
First published by the author as a post on Instagram.
