for RachelLavan's younger daughter and Jacob's beloved wife second wife (after he is initially tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah). Rachel grieves throughout her life that she is barren while Leah is so fertile. Ultimately, Rachel gives birth to Joseph and dies in childbirth with Benjamin. Rachel is remembered as compassionate (she is said to still weep for her children), and infertile women often invoke Rachel as a kind of intercessor and visit her tomb on the road to Bethlehem. Adler
My brother and I were at SinaiAccording to the Torah, God, in the presence of the Jewish people, gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai (Har Sinai).
He kept a journal
of what he saw
of what he heard
of what it all meant to him
I wish I had such a record
of what happened to me there
It seems like every time I want to write
I can’t
I’m always holding a baby
one of my own
or one for a friend
always holding a baby
so my hands are never free
to write things down
And then
As time passes
The particulars
The hard data
The who what when where why
Slip away from me
And all I’m left with is
The feeling
But feelings are just sounds
The vowel barking of a mute
My brother is so sure of what he heard
After all he’s got a record of it
Consonant after consonant after consonant
If we remembered it together
We could recreate holy time
Sparks flying
One Response
Ms Feld,
Thank you immensely for this poem. I heard it in a class in my synagogue where we discussed THE WOMEN AT SINAI.
It was led by a woman scholar who is a member of my synagogue and she used the writings of Tamar Biala and concluded the class with this poem.
We had a very lively discussion about inclusion, participation, obligation and prohibition.
Part of our conclusion was that we MUST continue to loudly express our willingness, our strengths, our knowledge and our need to be included and counted in daily Jewish life.
Thank you for your beautiful words and your creative way of expressing the reality of our lives.