Baaad Situation – A poem for Parsha Tetzaveh

And this is what you shall offer upon the altar: lambs in their first year, two a day, continually. ~Exodus 29:38

If you want the Holy One to dwell amongst us
you’re going to need a continuous supply of lambs.

One in the morning, and one in the afternoon.
Young ones, too, so make sure your adult lambs are frisky.

They’re going to need to keep producing.
The supply must be continuous.

Have the Holy One’s preferred recipe on hand.
Stock up on flour, and olive oil, and wine, and fire.

If you’ve been following along with civilization
you should be able to make your own fire

but the other ingredients are going to take work.
It is still the pre-grocery store era and

what you’ll need, you’ll have to produce.
It takes a lot of work if you want the Holy One

to dwell amongst us, and that’s by design.
Otherwise, God could show up in the middle of

any people who’ve hardly put in any effort and dwell
amongst them. Would they even appreciate it?

Anything worth doing is worth doing right and
we are told now how to do it right, so God can

take meetings with us and, presumably, provide
much more direction about how to live our best lives.

So ready the livestock, and please don’t contact the ASPCA.
No lambs were harmed in the writing of this poem.

Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 27 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Find him online at www.JewishPoetry.net