ACHAREI MOT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Leviticus 16 - 18

Atoning for himself and for his kin,
The high priest sacrificed the bull and goat
Before the altar and then went within.
With coals and incense he would make a smoke,
Standing before the Ark, sprinkling the blood.
And while this protocol was done just so,
And while we lived according to the code,
The land was ours. The exile then must show
That we had strayed -- such was the prophet’s gloss --
But we would yet return and re-inherit.
Again a generation after loss
We know how the mind shifts a weight to bear it
And searches for the power to keep faith,
Resanctify the land, after this death.