BEREISHIT

(1) 5761

The cycle of the world begins again,
the scroll from which we read has been wound back
to the first eve and morning, woman and man,
and once more the perennial questions knock
upon the heart. Did G-d indeed make this
world, for science tells a different tale,
and was there ever an original bliss
we lost? exactly wherein did we fail?
We see these questions have no answers pat,
like flaming swords they turn this way and that,
yet we are called to fashion what we can
from what is given. The poem comes as guide
to the circling Way, to where odd meanings hide.
So we begin, as once the world began.

(2) 5762

The cycle of the year begins again,
The scroll of teaching rolls back to the trace
Of that first Word that summoned light to dawn
On unimaginable emptiness.
We see Your measuring-line stretched out to found
The house of life, the bounds of time and space,
While thunders of destruction roll around.
But You have promised that Your world is good,
And still Your word will prove our standing-ground.
Although man’s proudest works have not withstood,
Although Your name be forged upon a plan
Of dark undoing: send us light to read
The instruction of Your truth. We must, and can.
So we begin, as once the world began.