Earth Etude for Elul 25 - Work for the Sake of Life and Work

by A. D. Gordon 

translated by Katy Z. Allen

I feel that life,

it is narrow like Sheol,

and my soul is within it

as within a press,

crushed, broken

pounded;

my life is frothing also

within my soul,

and causing havoc within me,

I shake myself violently

with all my strength

shake off from upon myself

and from within myself,

that life.

I begin everything anew,

everything anew.

From the very beginning I begin life,

and I do not change anything.

I do not fix anything,

but do everything anew.

The first thing,

which opens my heart to life,

which I knew was like it,

is work.

Not work for the sake of living,

and not work in the name of being commanded,

rather, work for the sake of life and work,

which a new light touches upon it,

such I saw,

and here it is one of the portions of life,

from its roots that are even deeper.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the President pro-tem of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion.