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Spiritual
Going Steady With the Lord — A poem for Torah Portion Ki Tisa
Rick Lupert - 0
And now, if I have indeed found favor in Your eyes,
pray let me know Your ways
Exodus 33:13
Before we buy property together
we’d like to know...
Anthropause
On streets of San Francisco you could see coyotes,
and jackals would be seen in parks of Tel Aviv,
and if in Welsh towns you observed...
Punica Granatum — A poem for Torah Portion Tetzaveh
Rick Lupert - 0
And on its bottom hem you shall make pomegranates
Exodus 28:33
In our home, which will, soon
no longer be our home, we planted
Biblical fruits in all...
Debunking a Hoax About Ahasuerus
The claim that French by Frenchmen is not spoken reminds me
of the hoax that Ahasuerus was a stable boy
before he ever became king, an...
My Expensive Tastes: An Origin Story — A poem for Torah Portion Terumah
Rick Lupert - 0
And you shall make a menorah of pure gold.
Exodus 25:31
When the first thing we were asked to make
required us to use solid...
Aramaic
If you are staying in Damascus
and long for somewhere cooler
the question that you ought to ask is:
“How do I find Malula?”
In mountains of the...
Moses
Tim Miller - 0
I was there when the man Moses mounted
a defense of himself: that he needed no dreams,
was never taught to talk out of a trance
and...
Train
Tim Miller - 0
By morning the children’s clothes
had dried on the barbed wire
and were packed with toys for the train.
The drunks felt themselves sober
and the hasty lust...
Can I Have My Cow Back? — A poem for Torah Portion Mishpatim
Rick Lupert - 0
After Exodus 22:4-26
Some of our best laws are here –
If a fire goes forth and finds thorns…
…then congratulate the fire for
living above its expectations...
Giraffes and Liars
In all the world the tallest of all creatures
is the giraffe, which is as tall
as tales told by liars, or by teachers
to hide their...
The Wisdom of In-Laws – a poem for Torah Portion Yitro
Rick Lupert - 0
Moses obeyed his father in law,
and he did all that he said.
Exodus 18:24
When I first met my father-in-law
naturally, he was suspicious.
Who was this man,...
Prayer Facing Imminent Death
Momentarily distinct
with our own bodies and our own consciousness,
we are blessed to risk love,
to parent new life,
to create and innovate,
to strive and to rest.
And...
God, College Education and the Pandemic
How God, in his perversity,
ties knots sometimes, unties when time
seems right to him, we learn through rhyme.
But in a university,
where everything is deconstructed,
we learn...
A Ploughed Field
Tim Miller - 0
A ploughed field abutted the barbed wire
and the ploughed field outlasted the barbed wire
and the plougher of the field survived to keep ploughing his...
The Biggest Things – A poem for Torah Portion Beshalach
Rick Lupert - 0
"and the waters were to them as a wall
from their right and from their left."
Exodus 14:22
I like to visit places that have the biggest...
Poem: Beshalach
Rick Lupert - 0
Do you remember what it was like?
Walls of water taller than a Grand Canyon?
How Should We Address a Tree?
Now how should we address a tree?
Perhaps as you, perhaps as thee,
suggesting there’s a parity
between us. Familiarity
is clear in French if we use “tu”
to...
The Art of the Deal – A poem for Torah Portion Bo
Rick Lupert - 0
And also our cattle will go with us;
not a hoof will remain
Exodus 10:26
In the shadow of the darkest dark
moments before the final plague
took...
Poem: Bo
Rick Lupert - 0
This poem was originally posted on January 29, 2020.
Locusts
A few months after we moved into our house
the ants felt bold enought to join us.
Their...
A Dream Like King’s
Contracts benefit, but covenants transform,
the former mere transactions but
relationships the latter, pulpit and platform
where minds are open, never shut.
Cooperating, fauna which have selfish genes
survive...
Thou Shalt Get Vaccinated
This is the way I’m telling everybody to be vaccinated,
learning from the Torah that we must do this to stay alive.
The Torah tells us...
Poem: Va’eira
Rick Lupert - 0
This poem was originally posted on January 22, 2020.
I’m gonna harden my heart
I’m gonna swallow my tears
I’m gonna turn and leave you here
— Quarterflash
If...
A Prayer of Outrage and Hope for our Country After the Siege of our Capital
A president who refuses to accept defeat,
Who continues to insist that facts are on his side,
Who asks his followers to overturn the results of...
Smile Although Your Heart Is Aching
Smile although your heart is aching,
forget about the fact you’re faking.
You’re making too much of life’s tsimmes
every time you make a grimace
instead of seizing...
This Way and That – A poem for Parsha Shemot
Rick Lupert - 0
He turned this way and that way, and he saw
that there was no man; so he struck the Egyptian
and hid him in the sand.
Exodus...
Poem: Shemot
Rick Lupert - 0
This poem originally posted on January 15, 2020.
A new King rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
It is in our nature to be...
Final Arrangements – A poem for Torah Portion Vayechi
Rick Lupert - 0
And Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am going to die…
…And I have given you one portion over your brothers..."
Genesis 48:21-22
Someone I know once...
Being Unharmed By Chopped Liver
Just thinking of our ethnic dishes
can make digestive juices run
and Jewish holidays such fun––
chopped liver and gefilte fishes.
Gastronomy will save the Jews
until they’ve earned...
Poem: Vayechi
Rick Lupert - 0
I revel in the fake spoiler.
We can’t start a single episode
of any television show without
me turning to my wife and
telling her
Verklemptitude – A poem for Torah Portion Vayigash
Rick Lupert - 0
And he wept out loud, so the Egyptians heard,
and the house of Pharaoh heard.
Genesis 45:2
It doesn’t take much to get me to weep.
A minor...
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