Category Archives: Poetry

Where The House Once Was

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

It’s hard to imagine Torah scholars having such a furious argument that they ripped a Torah scroll. But… It happened, did it not, in the synagogue of Tiberias over the issue of a doorstop that had a knob on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Talmud, Torah | Leave a comment

The Middle Of The Story And The Story Of The Middle

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

On the Torah page, the miracle of Passover’s seventh day comes into view. The Torah page literally pictures Israel crossing the sea—glistening black letters against sea foam parchment.  The words are inscribed according to the script: Look! There are the people … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Midrash, Passover, Poetry | Leave a comment

A Branch of the Tree of Life

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Moses’ staff escaped our notice completely until God drew attention to it by asking Moses: What is that in your hand? (Exodus 4:2). That staff is the most animated of all the inanimate objects in the Torah. Jolted from scaly … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry | 6 Comments

Before and Within

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

A strange Yom Kippur story was told by Rabbi Ishmael, a High Priest of the 2nd Temple: Once, I entered before and within (the Holy of Holies) to offer the incense and I saw Akatriel Yah, the Lord of Hosts, sitting on … Continue reading →

Posted in Blessing, Days of Awe, Holidays, Poetry, Talmud | Leave a comment

Beginnings Ripe And Ripening

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Rabbi Eliezer asks:  From where do we learn that the world was created in Tishrei? From the verse: God said, let the earth sprout grasses, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth bearing fruit with the seed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Days of Awe, Holidays, Passover, Poetry, Talmud | 2 Comments

Raising Voices At The New Moon

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Elijah, the prophet, would come regularly to the academy of Rabbi Judah, the Patriarch. One day—it was the day of the new moon—Elijah did not come to the prayers. When Elijah finally arrived, Rabbi Judah said: Why was the master … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | 3 Comments

Amen: The Final Word

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

On my table sits a stone amen written upon it, a grave stone fragment, a remnant of a Jewish graveyard destroyed more than a thousand years ago, in the city where I was born. One word, amen, cut deep in … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Talmud | 1 Comment

Sinai’s Appealing Thunder

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

I will not float in space un-tethered lest a cloud obscure the very fine line in my heart that separates good and evil. I have no life-line without the lightning and the thunder that I heard at Sinai. (Click here … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Memory, Midrash, Poetry | Leave a comment

You Open For Him

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Rabbi Eleazar HaKappar said:  Do not be like a lintel overhead that no one can reach; neither, be like a door beam that injures faces, nor like a raised threshold that bruises feet. Rather, be like a low threshold that … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Passover, Poetry, Talmud | 1 Comment

Never Too Early, Never Too Late

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

On the 9th anniversary of my father’s death— It seemed to some ancient sages that the Book of Ezekiel opens years after the start of the prophet’s career. Instead of beginning in the fifth year of the exile of King … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Life cycle, Memory, Midrash, Poetry | 3 Comments