Every garment I inherited from you
is something to wrap in
long black sweater
Loden suede jacket
raincoat with zip-in lining
and pack of Kleenex in the pocket
Best of all, Mom,
your fleecy jacket
warm enough for the commercial produce store
where a sign over the Farmers Market room
says “Welcome to Siberia”
The jacket is the same cobalt blue
as my tallitA four-cornered garment to which ritual fringes (tzitzit/tzitzi'ot) are affixed. The knots in the fringes represent the name of God and remind us of God's commandments. The tallit is worn during prayer and can also be drawn about oneself or around the bride and groom to symbolize divine protection., a gift to myself
the first time I read TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general.
my bat mitzvahLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed." at 49
It’s vast, this tallit
a sweep of blue, a desert sky
I unfurl it, recite the blessing, then wing
it back with a matador flourish
and bring my hands together
above my head
making a tent—
a mishkan
dwelling-place for
the sacred feminine
I invite you to enter, Mom
you—Harriet
your mother, Dora
her mother, Zlata
and all our mothers before whose names are lost
Tenderly I wrap
the tallit around our shoulders
Holding us all in its blue embrace
I ascend and chant the holy tongue
you were denied, weaving
your voices into mine
