Monthly Archives: October 2010

Facing and Losing Face

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

An old hobbled woman a beggar in the street was drinking tea in a paved courtyard in the shade of the oak. It was wondrous to me how she could break free from the terrors of a cursed fate to … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Talmud | Leave a comment

Taking A Stand That Does Not Trample

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

From the place where we are right there will never sprout flowers in the spring The place where we are right is trampled and hard like a courtyard… The poet, Yehuda Amichai, picks up a theme both modern and ancient:  … Continue reading →

Posted in Mishnah, Poetry | 1 Comment

Abraham, the Son: The Image Maker and Image Breaker

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

There is an ancient story about Abraham smashing all the idols in his father’s shop to prove that the idols were only statues, not gods.  As a child, I always thought that this story was in the Torah, so often … Continue reading →

Posted in Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Torah | 1 Comment

Noah’s Flood: Outer Landscape and Inner World

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

An ancient sage and a modern poet, each named Yehuda, give different life to the images of the biblical flood story. The terrain of the flooded world reminded the 4th century sage, Rabbi Yehuda ben Simon, of Psalm 36:7:  Your … Continue reading →

Posted in Memory, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry | Leave a comment

The Art of Blessing

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

I am not sentimental about old men mumbling the Hebrew by rote with no more feeling than one says gesundheit. Poet, Marge Piercy, is impatient with the ancient formula of beracha/blessing.  Certainly, formulas fall short of the evocative blessings that … Continue reading →

Posted in Blessing, Poetry | Leave a comment