Seven is completion.
HanukkahThe holiday which celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem following its conquest by the Syrians in 165 BCE. The holiday is celebrated by lighting candles in a hanukiyah oon each of eight nights. Other customs include the eating of fried foods such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (jelly donuts), playing dreidl (a gambling game with a spinning top), and, in present day America, gift giving. lights where
Eight sends us beyond
This world,
Casting illuminated gaze
Toward the vision
Contained within
The silence of
Ayin.
I do not always know
When I should be quiet.
And the loudest I am
Is when I am angry,
Or, sometimes, when I pray,
Or, yes, here, too:
In the deepest vulnerability of all,
A poem.
JacobLit. heel Jacob is the third patriarch, son of Isaac and Rebecca, and father to the twelve tribes of Israel. More than any of the other patriarchs, Jacob wrestles with God and evolves from a deceitful, deal-making young man to a mature, faithful partner to God. His Hebrew name is Yaakov. teaches,
We weave
And reweave,
The narratives
Of our lives,
Over and over again,
As we reach toward
A liberation in knowing.
Why do we bless
In the names of
Joseph’s sons,
Manasseh: “To forget”
Ephraim: “To be fruitful”?
May it be
Because we are asking
For the trauma
To be healed
In our children.
Because we know
Some injuries
Are there
For generations.
And because we believe
In the blessed
Journey of
Becoming whole.
