Plagues Are Not Cute

Plagues are not finger puppets,

Plagues are not soft and furry stuffed toys,

Plagues don't have googly eyes,

Plagues are not cute.

Plagues are not targeted attacks,

Plagues are not guerilla warfare,

Plagues do not show up in a court of law,

Plagues are not fair.

Plagues are not a bland topic for a mild discussion,

Plagues do not call for objectivity,

Plagues are not subject to ironic humor,

Plagues are not interesting.

No,

Plagues are disaster without explanation,

Plagues are revenge without a solution,

Plagues are acts of desperation,

Plagues attack everyone,

Plagues hurt the poor more than the rich,

Plagues kill the innocent as well as the guilty,

Plagues are not cute or fair or interesting.

So I drop wine onto my plate to remember all who suffered, Hebrew and Egyptian.

I drop wine onto my plate for the desperate acts that often come with freedom struggles.

I drop wine onto my plate so that I will not forget that

Plagues

Are 

Not
Cute.

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Trisha

The Color of Light: A Kavannah for Putting on Your Tallit

For with You is the Fountain of Light

In your light we shall see the light

      -- Psalm 36:10, translation by Robert Alter

God might be like the color of light:

When you look at it without holy separation, everything is bright and blinding.

But when you have the right tool, like a prism,

or a tallit,

You can set yourself apart and enjoy most of the colors:

And the world opens up.

But there are colors our eyes cannot see

And understandings that our minds cannot grasp but we know they are there.

When you have the right tool, like a spectograph,
or Torah,

You can perceive some of the unseen colors or at least posit their existence:

And the mystical opens up.

Perhaps 
When you have observed all the colors your eyes could see

And then learned about all the colors they could not,

Perhaps, after much time and effort,

You may realize

That it is all part of the One,

Each color separate and together, different and the same.

Flowing from the Fountain of Light,

Continuous.

And there you are, wrapped in the prism of Torah,

Opened up.

And you always were.

Amen

The First Two Years: A Yizkor Kavannah

I. The First Day

What?

Wait...what?

No.

How?  When?

Why?

No.

What?

No.

No no no.

II.  Shiva

Thank you for coming

Thank you for coming

Mmm, bagesl and lox, thank you so much.

You know you meant a lot to us.

Thank you for coming

Thank you for coming

Mmm, casserole, thank you so much.

You know you meant a lot to us.

Thank you for coming

Thank you for coming

Mmm, white fish salad, thank you so much.

It means a lot.

Yitgadal v'Yitkadash.

Thank you everyone, please go away now.

Go away.

Go away.

Thank you,

Amen.

III.  Sheloshim

Everyone went away.

Especially you.

One month later

And I don't know how to be.

Stop it.

IV.  Eleven Months Later

Today I brought a bottle of Scotch to shul

And many little plastic cups.

And just before the Mourner's Kaddish

I stood up and announced the unveiling.

Eleven months since you died.

I told a funny story

And poured out a drink for anyone who wanted one.

It was nice,

We toasted your life.

But you're still dead anyway.

You're still dead.

And I think I"m a little drunk.

V.  Two Years Later

It's Yizkor on Yom Kippur

And while the rabbi reads off the names

I'm going to tell you an embarrassing secret.

Sometimes when I'm watching TV

And an older couple comes on

In one of those commercials for Social Security supplemental health insurance.

And even though the dialogue is hokey

And the situation is contrived,

They are so warm and familiar with each other,

And you know they have been together for a long time

And plan to be together for a long time to come

And I can't help it,

It reminds me of you.

I know, right?

But I can't help it,

It makes me cry.

Only a little.

After all,

It's silly,

It's only a commercial for Social Security supplemental health insurance.

Oh, the rabbi just got to you.

It's good to hear her say your name again.

We remember you, together.  

Amen.

This Is Really Important

I am so tired of the nasty and mean-spirited comments,

the exaggerations and hyperbole, and

the age-ism 

from the older

and from the younger.

Respect experience.

Honor idealism.

Someone who disagrees with you 

is not stupid or evil.

Hard as it is,

make the choice for principled disagreement.

Remember the real enemy is the

racist,

misogynist,

homophobic,

transphobic,

fascist,

elitist,

climate change denying

fanatics and oligarchs

who must be held back

from the White House and all that power to really really hurt the world.

Once the choice is made, we must unify behind the candidate,

(neither of whom is perfect)

until after the election.

Don't make that unity harder than it needs to be.

Be a mensch.

This is really important.