Hello, Shalom Aleichem, (peace to you),
As it is with so many stages of our lives, we finish something and we begin anew, with a attitude of hope. The Torah closes on Friday morning with the death of our great teacher, Moshe, and with fanfare and dancing we begin the study of Torah once again, this time with the expectation that we will discover something new, something that will inspire us to do better.
We begin our renewed studies in the book of Genesis. For one small paragraph all is perfect and complete, a world where there the things in our lives which we take for granted are methodically created. The sun, the moon, the planets, the darkness and light, the oceans and the sky, the animals, birds and insects that inhabit this planet are created and finally, so he would never be too boastful, the human(s) was/were formed.
In the second creation story, (yes, there are two!), both man and woman are created and within a few short lines of text we have lost the perfection of creation and the man and the woman, Adam and Chava, are evicted from their perfect garden to a place where they will have to toil in the unyielding soil and give birth with pain. Again, within a few short lines, we discover the concept of jealousy and violence through the story of the first two brothers, Cain and Abel, as one murders the second.
This is the preface of a book, no, five books or more, largely about human imperfections. When we see the early characters in the book of Genesis and then the various characters we meet throughout the books, we are comforted as we see that we are not alone with all of imperfections and imperfect behaviors.
On my mind this week, as we celebrate the upcoming holidays, is the indelible stain of last year's massacre which took place on Simchat Torah /Shemini Atzeret. As a result this day will be remembered not only for its joy, but for the mayhem that took place. We grieve for the people lost, the soliders and those in harm's way and we grieve for innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon who have been also been affected by the nightmare of this past year, yet in the book of Genesis (Breisheet) it clearly states in Genesis, 1:27,
וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
People everywhere are created in God's image, yet still there is hatred in the world, overwhelming hatred. I write this piece about people who share the same imperfect human faces, but are also riddled with hatred.
I'm not sure if there is a place for idealism these days in this complicated saga of 2023-24, but this poem, B'Tzelem Elokim, is a plea for peace; for us to look at ourselves in the mirror and know we are created in the image of God and try to live up to what that demands.
I wish that I had the time and skill to stage this piece on B'Tzelem Elokim as I wish, a poem with three characters, two of whom humans and one as the narrator. It will have to suffice that I have three types of print and colors of text on the page. Each color/print represents a different character.
Regarding blog posts referenced at the bottom of this page, please do read last year's poem Ayeka and the poem entitled Bet.
Wishing all of you who are reading this …a long look in the mirror....I wish for peace and healing.
May this year bring better news.
Leann
B'Tzelem Elokim (In the Image of God)
He has two eyes,
brown with lashes that curl up to the sky.
Thick brows, pointedly arched,
he blinks,
his eyelids occasionally flutter.
He has two eyes
Pale blue, wispy lashes
his eyebrows rounded
Like quotation marks
His right eye twitches
Four eyes that stare,
Glare
Created B’tzelem Elokim.
They see this and that,
but not each other,
eyes conveniently averted,
blinded,
they see what they wish to see.
*****
He has two ears,
placed unevenly on his head.
One protrudes far from his head,
causing him shame.
He tries to flatten it with his hand.
He looks uneven,
unbalanced.
He has two ears
Small and round
Two small apples
Sprouting tiny porcupine hairs.
Four ears that hear
Created B’Tzelem Elokim
They hear what they wish,
ears perceiving when the time is right.
Sometimes they are stone deaf,
especially to each other.
B’tzelem Elokim?
*****
He has two lips, plump and pink,
Like two swollen pillows.
He rarely smiles to reveal his teeth,
crowded like broken kernels of corn on a cob.
Created B’Tzelem Elokim,
His lips open and out drop curses,
bloody threats and warnings.
He has two lips, always pursed tight,
locked in a perpetual frown,
Misplaced are those lips
on a round clown like face.
Created B’Tzelem Elokim,
Pursed lips guard a sharpened
tongue, ready to stab,
puncture.
Two mouths that hurl and curse,
speaking sideways and upside down,
conveniently lying, denying, accusing.
Created B'Tzelem Elokim,
lips and tongues burning.
B’Tzelem Elokim? What can this mean?
*****
B’Tzelem Elokim is a promise.
It is a threat,
It is in our noses,
our mouths, in our feet
and in our hands.
It is the mystery,
It is our challenge.
It is the mirror we hold up to ourselves.
Look.
The question is,
what do we see when we look in the mirror?
בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים
Other posts from Words Have Wings on Parshat Breisheet:
Ruach Elokim
https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/the-open-table. The Open Table
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