Ekev III

transactional theology's a crock;
God's not a butler, coddling your desire.
No human logic--much less Mr. Spock--
finds Springtime rains in goats consigned to fire.
Societies of angels need no rules;
Karl Marx explained the state itself away.
But to accommodate both saints and fools,
we still need codes, and people must obey.
When Job got tzurres that he'd never earned,
compounded by three friends who thought they're wise
God scoffed at what these three thought they had learned;
their victim-blaming schemes he labeled "lies".
Adults who spurn Ekev's stark quid-pro-quo
when raising children, still profess it's so.

Ekev

The quid-pro-quo of Deuteronomy
dissatisfied Job's author, long ago.
No purpose and no teleology
explains why innocent kids suffer so.
First-person testimony from on High
confirms our hero's righteous in all facts.
False friends seek reassurance in their lies
who--were they honest--ought to have his back.
To bring his sons, flocks, herds, back from the dead
strains one's credulity--it's more than odd.
But what's canonical can't be unsaid;
within the b'rit, we're stuck explaining God.
So Jews must re-interpret static words
imbuing sense into this life absurd.

ki tetzei

Without a shovel, no camp kit's complete
'cause God goes with us, when we march to war.
A scandal to besmirch His awesome feet
by inattention to the basest chore.
In war, like peace, the Chosen must conform;
in this world, we're the agent of God's Hand.
Josiah's seventh century reform
affirms our lease agreement on the Land.
The deuteronomistic quid pro quo
like everything else, shapes our rules for war.
But most important's the internal foe
when combat's understood as metaphor.
To d'rash the parashah  as mere p'shat
reduces Torah to be what it's not.

Re'eh

Re'eh makes clear, the ger is free to eat
the chazerei the other nations do
the laws of kashrut circumscribing meat
don't obligate him as they would a Jew.
It's we who feel the obligation's bite
to love him as we would one of our own
be he an atheist, or proselyte,
or worshipper or idols carved in stone.
The pharaohs treated refugees as things
to buy as concubines for so much grain.
But we, who deign to serve no earthly kings
must empathize with every Other's pain.
The inward-focused shtetyl-Jew can't shine
the Light unto the Nations that's divine.

zot haBracha

Contented goat-herd, tending Yitro's flock
demurred promotion to a bigger job
he'd fled the verdant delta for this rock
idyllic break from court, and from that mob.
Reluctant poet, 'til he found his tongue
relied on elder siblings though the years
but when--at last--his final song was sung
he's made the Heavens and the Earth give ears
The humble servant to a higher will
who'd lead the People where he's told to go
to plead at court, or hear a case, or kill
because an inner voice compelled him so.
No dynasty of sons, no earthly shrine
his legacy's in words of the divine.

Ki Tetzei II

Elisha ben Abuyah watched a son
chase off a mother bird to raid her nest
and quipped he'd get reward for what he'd done
obedient to his old man's behest.
Dual mitzvot surely marked him for long life;
it's inexplicable he'd be cut short.
But this boy died, and never knew a wife.
Elisha lost all faith in Heaven's Court.
Meir watched this play out, and yet stayed true,
convinced Truth laid obscured beneath p'shat.
A fundamentalist can't stay a Jew
insisting Torah's something that it's not.
the Deuteronomistic quid pro quo
seemed indefensible as youth smashed, dead
two paths diverged; Elisha couldn't go
the pious route. He hunted proofs instead.
No earthly tally always works out right
the wicked prospers, and the righteous bleeds.
No father could forget this awful sight;
his son got villain's wages for good deeds.
The metaphoric ledger just won't sum
without more columns for the World to Come.

Ki Tetzei

Elisha ben Abuyah watched a lad
ascend a tree to score a free-range meal
obedient to please his hungry dad
dual mitzvot surely meant reward for real
the Deuteronomistic quid pro quo
seemed indefensible as he fell, dead
two paths diverged; Elisha couldn't go
the pious route. He hunted proofs instead.
No earthly tally always works out right
the wicked prospers, and the pious bleeds
no father could forget this awful sight;
he saw no prize for his son's pious deeds.
The metaphoric ledger just won't sum
without more columns for the World to Come.

words

Josiah's renovations took a while;
incense and flesh had turned the Temple black.
The job he'd undertaken as a child
would scrape three hundred years of soots stains back.
His priestly tutors thought he ought to look
at what the work uncovered underground
a certifiable old sacred book!
The Tetrateuch would have to be rebound.
A more explicit creed of quid pro quo,
the royal subjects gotta toe his line
but no word more! The scriptures can't just grow.
God's word is whole and perfect at this time.
The canon's closed; don't worry what comes next.
Hereafter, revelation's from the text.

v'zot haB'rachah II

his gaze goes where his feet will never tread

for forty years, he's led this motley band

the Jordan won't be crossed 'til he lies dead

it's not for him to reach the Promised Land

two paths diverge; the conquest's to the West
but we turn to the epic new begun
as Moses shuts his eyes and gets his rest
we contemplate Creation of the sun
the reading cycle starts another loop
dividing primal Chaos, making Light
as Joshua goes forward with his troop
the reader's turning left as he goes right
it's cyclic and it's linear; strange world!
but that's how sacred history's unfurled

v'zot ha b'ruchah

Moshe looked out from Moab's heights, across
the Jordan's waters flowing cold and sweet
then one last tête-à-tête with his big Boss
and his part of the story was complete
two paths diverge; the conquest's to the West
but we turn to the epic new begun
as Moses shuts his eyes and gets his rest
we contemplate Creation of the sun
the reading cycle starts another loop
dividing primal Chaos, making Light
as Joshua goes forward with his troop
the readers turning left as he goes right
it's cyclic and it's linear; strange world!
but that's how sacred history's unfurled

Ha'azinu

from Shir haYam the open question pends
are there contenders for the cloud-based throne?
two poems form har Sinai's paired bookends
there is no God but God, and He alone
the Wilderness pericope's complete
save for the bit where Moses just can't go
the Jordan crossing reprises the feat
the RedSea witnessed forty years ago
the poem's witness stands, when Moshe's gone
new generations only have to look
now Joshua must lead the People on
and revelation's channeled through the Book
the journey to the Jordan from the sea
must start and end in epic poetry

Ha'azinu II

from Shir haYam the open question pends
are there contenders for the cloud-based throne?
two poems form har Sinai's paired bookends
there is no God but God, and He alone
the Wilderness pericope's complete
save for the bit where Moses just can't go
the Jordan crossing reprises the feat
the RedSea witnessed forty years ago
the poem's witness stands, when Moshe's gone
new generations only have to look
now Joshua must lead the People on
and revelation's channeled through the Book
Moshe rabbeinu sees the Promised Land
but fears his legacy is built on sand

Ki Tavo

the widows and the orphaned get the tithe
skimmed off the best our fields and flocks produce
that they rejoice--and not merely survive--
this tenth is consecrate for their use
but 'nuther parshah gives it to the priests
is that a second ten percent on top?
can pilgrims making their shelamim feasts
commingle it with bulk-grain of the crop?
Beit Shammai thought the temple got it all
while Hillel said to share it with the poor
'tween Man and God, he didn't see a wall
and serving the Divine's what that food's for
Hagigah's text obsesses on each grain
but never spends a moment to explain

Re'eh II

some rabbis would emasculate the text
when they don't like the plain sense of the word
distorting cause to get desired effects
although the lengths they'll go to get absurd
the "ger"--they'd tell us--has embraced our creed
not any stranger dwelling in our town
rememb'ring Egypt and our time of need
they'd cut the list of whom to love way down
the European ghetto made them shrink
forsaking the repair of the whole world
survival when the tribe seemed on the brink
bent all our aspirations inward-curled
and yet to love's commanded of all Jews
regardless of the faith some others choose

Re'eh!

Re'eh says carrion's fit for the ger
who plainly isn't counted among Jews
his designation tells us only where
he'll make his dwelling, not which God he'll choose
yet rabbis felt compelled to fix the text
the way a vet might fix an alley cat
to love so freely might have dire effect
affecting even who might get begat
Divrei Torah k'lshon b'nei adom
but language drifted with the passing years
the etymology tells where it's from
but not the layers a word comes to bear
as we were strangers, so we must show love
without inquiring which shul they're part of