//creative//
Fall 2021
Fall 2021
Shai Goldman
My first serious encounter with poetry was outside of the religious sphere. The sheer quantity of wonderful poetry my eyes scanned in Columbia’s Literature Humanities Core was enough to tug the strings of my soul. Reading through Virgil, Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare, even if at times while half asleep, or barely paying attention, was eventually enough to unlock the love of poetry still with me today. Soon I realized that poetry was not limited to the encounter with the transcendent aesthetics of secular beauty and human creation -- it could be a deeply religious and spiritual experience as well. My soul was opened in a new way to the writings of David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Moses that I thought I had known. Here was a richness and an ecstasy of religious experience hidden from me in texts I grew up with. It was only a matter of time before I found myself similarly compelled to engage in the process of poiesis itself as a religious activity. This was the journey that led me to begin writing parsha poems, poems that explore an event or theme present in the weekly Torah portion, some of which I have now presented to The Current, who have graciously agreed to publish them here.
Adam
So he, the glorious, hallowed image and shine
Of his immortal, infinite creator,
His perfect form the crown of Godly labor,
And in him breathed the human soul divine,
Walks one final stroll in his sweet, blissful
Home, and gives his sad farewell to all
Those creatures he had named, large and small,
And all the lovely plants, tall and little.
They weep and mourn his fate, the beasts, the trees,
The soil refuse solace, the clouds deny
Respite from sunless days of dark and gloom.
Weep not, dear friends; fear not of these,
He whispers to them softly, tear in eye,
Does Eden need of man to grow and bloom?
Rebecca
And Eliezer, baffled silent, stood
As she fulfilled his every wish and dream
And so much more. He knew what this would mean;
He saw from there that all God does is good.
And so he waited patient as he could,
So in the proper time he true could deem
That God in truth his path had planned and seen,
The way his master said and prayed he would.
And Rivkah finished her kindness with a smile,
And Jewish destiny smiled back all the while.
Moses' Prayer
Thus our teacher begins his final plea:
Merciful Judge of all created things!
God, whose right hand lies beneath the wings
Of the Holy Hayyoth — who has shown me
At Horeb's mount the impossible degree
Of boundless kindness his high mercy brings
And at Kadesh His mighty strength that swings
The heavenly scales he holds for charity!
Roll now Your mercy to conquer Your anger
And I will cross the Jordan to the land
Where you commanded me to bring your nation!
But God answers His dear servant: no longer
Speak with me of this request. My hand
Does not make False eternal declaration.
Adam
So he, the glorious, hallowed image and shine
Of his immortal, infinite creator,
His perfect form the crown of Godly labor,
And in him breathed the human soul divine,
Walks one final stroll in his sweet, blissful
Home, and gives his sad farewell to all
Those creatures he had named, large and small,
And all the lovely plants, tall and little.
They weep and mourn his fate, the beasts, the trees,
The soil refuse solace, the clouds deny
Respite from sunless days of dark and gloom.
Weep not, dear friends; fear not of these,
He whispers to them softly, tear in eye,
Does Eden need of man to grow and bloom?
Rebecca
And Eliezer, baffled silent, stood
As she fulfilled his every wish and dream
And so much more. He knew what this would mean;
He saw from there that all God does is good.
And so he waited patient as he could,
So in the proper time he true could deem
That God in truth his path had planned and seen,
The way his master said and prayed he would.
And Rivkah finished her kindness with a smile,
And Jewish destiny smiled back all the while.
Moses' Prayer
Thus our teacher begins his final plea:
Merciful Judge of all created things!
God, whose right hand lies beneath the wings
Of the Holy Hayyoth — who has shown me
At Horeb's mount the impossible degree
Of boundless kindness his high mercy brings
And at Kadesh His mighty strength that swings
The heavenly scales he holds for charity!
Roll now Your mercy to conquer Your anger
And I will cross the Jordan to the land
Where you commanded me to bring your nation!
But God answers His dear servant: no longer
Speak with me of this request. My hand
Does not make False eternal declaration.
//SHAI GOLDMAN is a sophomore in Columbia College. He can be reached at [email protected].