Poems for the Autumn Sacred Days

Rosh Ha-Shanah

Rosh Ha-Shanah

New Year

New moon of Tishri

Dawning darkly

First stars

Sparkling pathways

From the past

Into the future

Hinneini

Here I am

Standing on the threshold

Of the new year

Ready

But

Retreating

T’shuvah?

I turn back from the brink

Sarah’s laughter

Ringing in my ears

New life?

New beginning?

Is it possible?

And then

In the desert

Of those questions

Hagar’s eyes

Opening mine

Forcing me

To turn around again

Pressing me

To look forward

To gaze into the landscape

Beyond

To see

Wells of water

In the wilderness

Hinneini

Here I am

Standing on the threshold

Of the new year

Ready

To begin

Again

For me?

Published in:

Machzor Ruach Chadashah. Services for the Days of Awe. Liberal Judaism, London, 2003, p. 39.

Simchat Torah
The joy of Torah
joyous respite for eyes and minds endlessly

diving into words and deciphering their meanings.
The annual dance of Torah
stirring the heart and the feet to rapture.
Eitz chayyim hi
la-machazikim bah
(‘She is a tree of life
to those who hold fast to Her’).
Clasped in loving embrace
the sacred letters dancing

from devotion to ecstasy
whirling into new life with every step.

Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah

During this festival of Sukkot, may the fragile sukkah that recalls our ancestors’ forty-year sojourn in the barren wilderness, remind us of our obligation to assist the poor and the homeless, those in flight from persecution, war and destitution, and all those across the globe experiencing oppression, anguish, grief, loss, hardship and humiliation at this time.

Let us pause in the midst of our sacred celebrations to reflect on all those who are suffering at this time.

PAUSE FOR REFLECTION

Just as we wave the lulav in all the directions and so acknowledge the earth around us and Eternity beyond us, may we also reach out to other peoples in distress wherever they live, contribute to the alleviation of their suffering, and commit ourselves to the sacred task of tikkun olam, repair of the world.

And let us say: Amen.

Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah

Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue

Yom Kippur

Day of uncovering

Discovering

Recovering

Covering over again

Uncovering the layers

shrouding the soul

layer by layer

fissures in the fabric of the self

self-conceits, deceits,

torments, rationalisations

Discovering in the depths

abandoned

amidst stubborn knots of fear

stray threads of connection

enough to repair

waiting

only to be noticed, grasped

untangled

recovered thread by thread

gathered together

A subterranean life-raft

sturdy enough to revive

hope

and resurface

leaving the detritus of the year behind

beneath a covering of tears

Yom Kippur

Day of Covering

recognition and gratitude

showing the way to renewal

Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah

September 2021 – Tishri 5782