Tetzaveh — command (Exodus 27:20–30:10)
I don’t like to take commands
but my bosses like to issue them
and my mortgage likes to get paid.
I say I don’t like to take commands,
but I’m a rule follower – No one jaywalks
on my watch without getting judged.
I don’t like to take commands or even
issue them. I say let love rule, and will
do whatever love commands me to do.
I’m a freeform command follower.
Oxygen takes its own path into my lungs.
My blood flows at its discretion.
I might say your wish is my command
but only because I’m in the service industry
and did I mention my mortgage?
I find this performance commanding.
I find this command performative.
I find signs on the street that say
call this number, but I never do.
When God commanded Moses to
command the people to
build a holy place in the desert
everyone did what they were told.
I probably would have too
if I were there. My tradition tells me
I was there. So I’m assembling
my own breastplate of judgment.
I’m taking the dress code seriously.
Two onyx stones? Got ‘em.
Twelve gems on the breastplate?
Say no more. Loaves of unleavened
bread at the tabernacle entrance?
Hand me your finest flour, and
I implore you. Do not think of it again.
It is done. It what I have been
commanded to do.
Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 29 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net
