B’shiva shel ma’alah:
Standing here together, the veil between this and the supernal worlds is lifted.
Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters – we are now exposed
Naked before the Infinite.
B’Shiva shel ma’atah:
We also stand before this world,
Trembling naked
And in consort with all fellow mortals.
Al da’at hamakom:
We stand Before the all-knowing and unending presence.
V’al da’at hakahal:
And with the full knowledge and supportive understanding of the community
Anu materin l’hitpalel eem ha-avaryanim
We are permitted
To plead our case with those who have trespassed the bounds.
We are the trespassers.
We have crossed over.
We have created division –
the great separation
that sundered us from community
and the sacred presence.
We opted for this separation.
We cut the sacred ties,
that bound us to all things.
and then, without glancing back,
we sailed across our self-made divide.
Now, in this moment,
the veil shimmers into translucence
and the fiction of our separation
hesitates and wavers.
In this moment,
we who trespassed can
turn and return,
crossing the passage
back to where
union awaits us.
