Covid Poem 1 - Blight / Light

by Judith Felsen, Ph.D.

Curious how pestilence

evokes both light and dark of our survival

Enemy becomes a catalyst

challenging our character

critically insisting, calling

raising higher nature

Scourge becomes our solvent

washing sins and strengths together

dispelling gaps with conscience  

transgressions lost in search for mercy

praying for acquittal 

Compassion is the birthchild 

of this plague

Forgiveness is its midwife

We are birthed within our illness

which inspires  mingling 

of our sins and merits

merging criminals and prophets

reduced in bliss of oneness

We are solo and connected

Pandemic brings us truth

The world is changed

We start anew

Judith Felsen, Ph.D. is a poetess, Clinical Psychologist, coach, 2nd generation holocaust survivor, hiker, dancer, walker, volunteer, lover of nature, gardens, wilderness, beach, ocean and mountains. Her work addresses issues of recovery, 2nd generation survivors, the natural world, gardens and harvests, life cycle issues, spiritual questing, social issues, community issues and personal requests. Her poems have been published and widely distributed in national and specific publications. She is a New York native and resident of new Hampshire. She frequents Long Beach and lives with her husband and two large rescue dogs at their camp in the White Mountains of N.H. and house near the ocean in Long Beach. She actively studies the mystical and esoteric aspects of Judaism and is a member of the board of the Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation and the Chavurah of Mount Washington Valley. She writes often and offers consultation upon request.

What Is This? / ?מה זה

by Rabbi Katy Allen

What is this rising within me,

bubbling, swirling, churning,

giving me no respite?

Waiting, I am,

as are you,

as are we all--

unsure if we may soon be grieving,

unsure when we may be holding others

in their grief     from afar.

Unsure if we may be struck down.

Unsure if we have the strength

to endure--

how long we know not.

Certain are we only

that our lives have changed,

never again to be the same--

never again to be the same--

and yet, 

also,

unchanged.

I am still me;

You are still you;

with all of our genius

and all of our foibles.

Only our priorities have shifted--

some of them.

But,

love remains,

solid as ever, 

or perhaps more--

may we never ever lose touch with it.

Compassion remains--

and grows, we hope--

please, may it be so.

A desire to help remains--

just let me figure that one out,

again and yet again.

Only where I go (or don’t) 

and what I do (or don’t) 

and who I see (or don’t) 

and what I hear (or don’t)--

that is all that has changed.

Of all of this, I strive to be certain,

in this time 

of uncertainty.

מה זה שעולה בתוכי

מְבַעֲבֵּעַ, מתגלגל,  מסתובב,

בלי לתת לי מָנוֹחַ?

מחכה, אני,

כמוך

כמו כולנו,

לא בטוחים אם בקרוב נתאבל,

לא בטוחים מתי  נחזק אחרים

בְּאֵבלם מרחוק.

לא בטוחים אם נוּכֶּה ארצה.

לא בטוחים שיש לנו הכח

להחזיק מעמד--

כמה זמן אנחנו לא יודעים.

בטוחים אנחנו רק

שחיינו השתנו,

אף פעם לא יחזרו ליושנם--

אף פעם לא יחזרו ליושנם--

אולם, 

גם,

ללא שינויים.

אני עדיין אני;

אתם עדיין אתם;

עם כל גאוניותינו

וכל חוּלשותינו.

רק עדיפוּיותינו התחלפו--

חלק מהן.

אבל,

אהבה נשארת,

אֵיתָנה כתמיד, 

או אולי יותר--

יהי רצון שלעולם לא נאבד את המגע איתה.

רחמים נשארים--

ומתגברים, אנחנו מקווים--

נא, כן יהי רצון.

הרצון לעזור נשאר--

רק תן לי להבין איך,

שוב ושוב.

רק לאן שאני הולכת (או לא)

ומה שאני עושה (או לא)

ומי שאני רואה (או לא)

ומה שאני שומעת (או לא)--

זה כל מה שהשתנה.

ועם כל זה אני משתדלת להיות בטוחה,

בתקופה זו

         של חוסר וַודָאוּת.

Rabbi Katy Allen is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long, and the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Jewish Climate Action Network-MA. She is a board certified chaplain and a former hospital and hospice chaplain and now considers herself an eco-chaplain. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in  Yonkers, NY in 2005 and lives in Wayland, MA with her spouse, Gabi Mezger, who leads the singing at Ma'yan Tikvah

Counting the Days

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

(first posted as part of Sefirat Ha'Omer: Hunkering Down, Harvesting Lessons from the Pandemic https://www.facebook.com/groups/SefiratHaOmerPandemic/)

The evening of April 27 is Hod she b'Tiferet, the 19thday of counting the Omer. The following reflection by considers hod /humility, acknowledgment in the context of tiferet /compassion, beauty during this time of social distancing and staying at home.

We are counting, counting the days, from Pesach to Shavuot, from the barley harvest to the wheat harvest. But we are also counting the days, the days of hunkering down at home, the days of being alone, or alone with our families, or of going to work and wondering on what day we will test positive for COVID-19.

Counting the Omer, we know we are counting only until 49, and that on the 50th day, we will once again – B”H, experience revelation and understand a little bit better what it means to stand at Sinai and receive a give of profound proportions.

But we don't know how many days we will be living a life of confinement and connection only via telephone and video chats, Zoom gatherings for meeting and prayer, and sitting on opposite sides of the street to chat with our neighbors. We don't know how many days we will be counting rising death tolls and unemployment. We don't know.

There is beauty and compassion out there – we hear it in the music played by orchestras, each member at home; we hear of it with neighbors helping neighbors; we hear of it with giving up our of wealth to share with those who are most vulnerable; we hear of it every day, beneath the roar of politics, blaming, and shaming. Tieferetis alive and well.

And so, let us find our humility, our ability to acknowledge our limits, to give us the strength and courage to contribute to the compassion and beauty being expressed all around us. Let us find the humility that will give us the strength and the courage to keep going, counting the days, one day at a time, we don't know until when, to count the Omer, and then, if we must, to count the days from Shavuot to Rosh HaShanah, and then to Simchat Torah, and then onward to Hanukkah. Let us find the humility to know that we are not so incredibly important that we must physically go out into the world and endanger others. Let us settle into hod she b'tiferet for as along as it takes. 

Rabbi Katy Allen is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long, and the co-founder and President pro-tem of the Jewish Climate Action Network-MA. She is a board certified chaplain and a former hospital and hospice chaplain and now considers herself an eco-chaplain. She received her ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY in 2005 and lives in Wayland, MA with her spouse, Gabi Mezger, who leads the singing at Ma'yan Tikvah. 

Chag Pesach Sameach - Happy Passover

The moon is waxing,
almost full,

a reminder that Passover 

is almost here,

that our time of bondage

is almost at an end.

We feel it so differently

during this particular cycle of the year,

in this time of bondage new to us, 

knowing that this bondage will continue,

we know not how long.

This Pesach moon is known by many names,

the Planting Moon  - 

the Tunica, Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, and the Seneca tell us.

Did you just plant your peas,

or your lettuce,

confident of the turning of the seasons,

despite the plight

of homo-sapiens the world over?

According to the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe).

it is the Loon Moon,

What would you call the moon this month?

The Passover Moon -

with hope that the plague will pass over your home

and the homes of all your beloveds

and the homes of all those who have not

enough to eat

and the "homes" of the homeless?

The COVID Moon -

in memory of a Passover never to be forgotten?

Perhaps we connect to another Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe)-given name,

the Frog Moon,

a reminder of the plagues,

and the miracles,

of long ago,.

Or perhaps we will call it the Hope Moon -

in our determination never to lose hope.

Or the Remember Moon -

that we may remember and observe into the future

the blessings we received this Passover

that is like no other.

As our journey out of bondage begins,

let us step outside,

observe the moon,

and allow it to speak to us,

to give each of us its name,

to answer the question, 

what is this springtime moon

for me?

Wishing you a wonderfully different Passover, however it comes together for you this year.  Dayeinu, it will be enough.

Chag Pesach Sameach - Happy Passover,

Rabbi Katy and Gabi