I lift up my eyes and look through the branches
The stars are there, but I cannot see them.
There is too much light on the manmade horizons,
Lamps lit in vain to dispel a deep darkness.
The scent of the etrogA lemon-like fruit (citron) used at Sukkot as one of the four species. Women desiring to get pregnant were given the pitom (stem) to eat after Sukkot. is citrus, so sharp,
the lulavOn Sukkot, three of the four species (the palm, the myrtle, and the willow)Â are bound and waved together with the etrog. The lulav is said to symbolize the spine, while the myrtle's leaves symbolize eyes, the willow's leaves are lips, and the etrog is the heart. is fragile and beginning to unravel.
I shake them in all directions, say traditional prayers,
Yet still my heart wonders, are You really there?
I hear echoes of far distant days long before
our Ancestors came to rely only on You.
Whispers of hope and prayers for good harvests,
Dancing into the night to appease angry gods.
I struggle this year to choose who to invite
To enter my sukkahLit. hut or booth A temporary hut constructed outdoors for use during Sukkot, the autumn harvest festival. Many Jews observe the mitzvah of living in the Sukkah for the week of Sukkot, including taking their meals and sleeping in the Sukkah., sit with me for a while.
I can think only of who I would never invite,
Or who couldn’t come anyway because they are gone.
Forgive me this year for struggling to remember,
That even in darkness Your Light is still here.
For bringing such fragile things into my sukkah,
And stomping on them in defiance of hope.
You are my Hope, I have not forgotten.Â
It is only mine that is weakened and fragile.
Teach me new words so I may be oh, so joyful,
And share all my harvests in peace and with song.
