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Show Us How It’s Done – A poem for Parsha Lech Lecha

This is not the party I want to be at.
[additional-authors]
October 22, 2026

And all the people of his household, those born in his house and those bought with money from foreigners, were circumcised with him. ~ Genesis 17:27

This is not the party I want to be at.
Truthfully, I wasn’t invited, but they
made me the guest of honor anyway.

No one talked with me about it since.
They didn’t say, you were a real champ
or even apologize.

I’d imagine the booze was great
and someone had a nice payday for
showing up with the right equipment.

I’d like to look them up and thank them
for their expertise and what I assume
was a steady hand. At this point, they

likely took this memory to their grave.
We threw the same party for our son.
A friendly stranger did the honors.

I hear it’s hygienic, though our incentive
was Biblical. Abraham did it when he
was old enough to remember.

Now that guy was a champ – showing us
how covenants were done. You can’t really
show anyone anymore –

not without permission, and no one
wants to ask, or talk about it, or
have this memory at all.


Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 30 books including “Begin the Beget” and “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net

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