This week we cross the sea! We read within the pages of our texts what might be an example of a very early concrete poem.
The crossing is beautifully written in what comes to be called ‘brick’ fashion.
Not only is the text written in this exquisitely imagined layout, it is also sung in alternating cantillations. And of course, those words are telling our story in song – the Song of the Sea. The song ends with the words, “Children of Israel walked on the dry land amid the sea”. Now the work begins, as the Israelites begin to not just walk towards Sinai, but to understand the miracle of their freedom. Our freedom is bound to our covenant. That covenant was a Yes: We will stand together, we are a people.
This is perhaps the most difficult of tasks, and the most evident of the miracles that surround us. We said yes then to becoming a people, k’lal Yisroel. Today as Israel the nation defends her people, we say yes again. We stand within that eternal covenant.
May we see another miracle soon.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
Beshalach
January 22, 2024 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
This week we cross the sea! We read within the pages of our texts what might be an example of a very early concrete poem.
The crossing is beautifully written in what comes to be called ‘brick’ fashion.
Not only is the text written in this exquisitely imagined layout, it is also sung in alternating cantillations. And of course, those words are telling our story in song – the Song of the Sea. The song ends with the words, “Children of Israel walked on the dry land amid the sea”. Now the work begins, as the Israelites begin to not just walk towards Sinai, but to understand the miracle of their freedom. Our freedom is bound to our covenant. That covenant was a Yes: We will stand together, we are a people.
This is perhaps the most difficult of tasks, and the most evident of the miracles that surround us. We said yes then to becoming a people, k’lal Yisroel. Today as Israel the nation defends her people, we say yes again. We stand within that eternal covenant.
May we see another miracle soon.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn