fbpx

At the Mountain – A poem for Parsha Behar-Buchukotai

Any excuse to use the word "mountain" in a poem...
[additional-authors]
May 7, 2026

Behar-Bechukotai — on Mount [Sinai] / in My Statutes (Leviticus 25:1-27:34)

I live on a mountain
surrounded by other mountains.
I’m listening for voices.

Sometimes it’s coyote.
Sometimes trash trucks.
It’s often lawnmowers.

This is not the mountain
of my ancestors but perhaps
the one of my descendants.

I lay down the law on this mountain
while simultaneously following
the laws laid before me.

They tell me what to plant
on this mountain, or at least
must approve my ideas.

They want me to document
my neighbors weighing in.
I like to do what I’m told.

Like on the original mountain
where we first heard the Voice
telling us what and when –

Telling us how often and
when we just shouldn’t.
These are the laws

of the mountain. We were all there.
I still have my mountain outfit.
I still listen for the Voice

I first heard there. Any excuse
to use the word mountain
in a poem.


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

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Who’s Really the Victim?

Those who would revel in Israel’s demise are claiming victimhood on every front and denying attacks on us in the same breath.

Biblical Deterrence

After Oct. 7, the sentiment in Israel toward the Iranian leadership was unequivocal: You went medieval — so we will go biblical.

How Sukkot Makes Us Whole

This year, I bless us that we open our eyes to truly see the beauty and the holiness of the world, and of the person before us at each and every moment, and to see the godliness of their aspirations and their fears.

The New Ushpizot

Ushpizin invite us to “welcome in our ancestral constellation and dwell amongst them.” This year, it’s Ushpizot, for the women. It’s the year of the Feminist Visitation.

Macklemore, Or Less

In between his songs, he proclaimed, “Free Palestine,” which is fine, asserted that opposing Israeli military actions is not antisemitic, which is accurate, and accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, which is offensive, untrue and hateful.

The Rokeach’s Remarkable Sukkah

To Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (1176-1238), the medieval German pietist known as the Rokeach, the sukkah symbolized Jewish military might.

The Sukkah and the Power of Endurance

They can destroy our Temples, demonize us in social media, shower us with hate, but they can’t destroy a spirit that never stops building. That enduring spirit is the power of the sukkah.

NY Mag’s Habibi City

A satirical response to Zaina Arafat’s erasure of Jews in her New York Magazine article “Habibi City,” written as Zaina Arafat.

The ‘Fauda’ Enigma

In many of the nations that believe Israel has no right to exist and routinely root for terrorists to slaughter Jews, a TV show that depicts Israeli covert operatives outsmarting and dispatching Arabs has an inexplicably loyal global audience.

Jewish Democrats Cave to Anti-Semites

Those of us who are not of the Democrat politic party have believed that the Democrats have done little to stop the disease of Jew hatred from infiltrating their party.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.