Israeilte Poem
Some truths cannot be killed
Like the sole existence of our Glorious G-d
This world’s Glorious G-d
And my personally inescapable truth
That I will never be one thing only
For years and years I tried to simplify my existence
Reduce and capture my identity
Trap it in a box, in a corner, so that existence would be easier
But thus was like the lie of the Satan
The expression of man is only as G-d wills
Drops of Israel and a sea of America
Blue, white, and red jumbled onto my heart
One ear was Hebrew and the other English
And yet my earlobe was Arabic, my other will be Aramaic soon
Mixtures of Mishnaic tongue – multicultural, multilingual – oh G-d, what to be?!
Mizrachi Israel, at 22 became religious and picked up my father’s nusach
Tongue stayed Hebrew, prayers Ashkenaz, so many sound waves and frequencies
The only thing that remained, and upon which all these things stood
Like the world that stands on Torah, Avoda, and Gmilut Chassidim
Scratch all falsity with frustrated and determined nails
Teeth clenched, heart determined to remove this silk screen, this smoke screen
Shatter the glass like the vessels
Withdraw the lie like tzim-tzum
Light up my mind like “and He saw that it was good”
Spark up my heart like clashing swords
Lift up my soul like Abraham’s eyes to the mountains on the third day
Climb this Wall, we’ll get to the top and remove all falsity, all false domes
From under the dome of the sky under His Home in the Sky, His Place, the Place
Go to the place that I will show you
There I discovered the only Truth seeping from Mouth of the Kadosh Baruch Hu
Grab His Tzitzis, climb up His Commandments, up the Neck our Father
Behind His Head to the Nape of His Neck, sit on the Knot of His T’fillin
Ride this world out over the seas and landscapes and above the waves
That push us from our destination
G-d fill this land with Your Glory
G-d, Jews, Torah – the only Holy Trinity I know
In my heart I found an Israelite, the remnant of a Hebrew
In my eyes I found the image of a Temple
In my sides I found a soul with a Jew’s expression
I looked north, south, east, and west inside – this is what G-d gave me
G-d, protect us – our enemies meet each other to plan our destiny
But people make plans and You laugh
Laugh at them, G-d
Wipe the evil smiles off their faces, strike them on the cheek and break their teeth
So that they cannot hackle evil laughs
Let them become stuck in the mud between the walls
And we will all run to the Wall
Which will become multiplied into Walls
The smoke will not be from bombs in shops but a smell pleasing to You
