| A rabbi asks his students: |
|
It’s his birthday, September 12th
he is talking to himself
|
“How do you know the exact moment
of dawn – when night is over and day begins?” |
|
“what now?”
he asks
|
“Is it when you can tell an olive tree
from a fig tree at a distance?”
asks a student. No.
|
|
“I am at a banquet”
he tells himself, “time passes”
|
“Is it when you can tell a goat
from a sheep at a distance?”
another student asks. No. |
|
“But why does time pass?”
he wonders
|
“Is it when you are able to read
‘exit’ in place of ‘enter’ on the
prison door?” Not even then. |
|
“always remember pain”
he counsels himself
|
“Day comes when you see
the faces, bearded, shrouded,
on CNN, that they are
|
|
“that way
when it comes
|
your brothers and sisters”
the rabbi says.
Until then it is night.” |
|
you may be allowed
to remember the banquet”
|
