We reached the shore,
and we crossed a parted sea.
We survived oppression,
torment, and slavery.
We escaped those
who sought to destroy us.
We’ve come this far.
a wandering which began
with the crashing of brick
through a glass window.
We’ve reached this moment.
Now, we are looking back;
back at where we were,
the horrors we faced,
the atrocities, the fear,
and we take stock of our lives.
But for as far as we’ve come,
we are still in the desert.
We are still only days,
only moments into our wandering.
Knowing that many of us
will not getA writ of divorce. Traditionally, only a man can grant his wife a get. Liberal Jews have amended this tradition, making divorce more egalitarian. to see the land
which we are to inhabit.
A land of peace, and hope,
joy and hope, freedom,
love.
We are in the desert,
but not one of sand, or drought.
Not a wilderness of beasts
or an expanse of devastation.
Our desert is one of debate.
Debate of our right to exist.
A debate of our right to love;
love who we love without fear.
A debate of whether or not
we are people worthy;
worthy of a place in society.
We are still only days into our wandering.
A wandering where we must reflect,
we have come far.
but we are not ready.
We have endured so much.
but have not prepared enough.
Our people are liberated.
but we are not yet free.
One day, maybe not in my life,
we will no longer know
fear for loving someone.
We will no longer know
fear for knowing our bodies.
We will no longer know
the attack on our rights
in the name of another faith’s G-d;
a G-d that we do not even know.
a G-d we may not believe in.
But for now, we wander the desert,
lost in the expanse of Court cases:
Lawrence,
Obergefell,
Masterpiece,
Bostick,
Hollingsworth,
Windsor,
Romer,
Bowers,
That seem to just keep coming.
Cases brought before a benchLit. To bless. From the Yiddish ''bentshn.''
in the name of a Messiah
that we don’t even recognize.
So, we shall remain, and wander.
Because there is more for us to learn,
more growing to do,
more experiences to have,
But, for as far as we still have to travel,
I look back at where we’ve been,
and I know that, one day,
We will be free.
