"Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."


in the thickness of the day,
in the weight of the evening,
in the expectation of the morning,
in the solitude of the still night,
i am known by one who is One.
open to the great mystery

and laid naked in front of the glorious Love.
Oh love Divine that sweeps my being into thine,
that breaks me open, pouring unknown hopes in.
you do not release me to my fear, to my life.
i am yours. i am yours. i am yours.
it cannot be worn out.

i am the fragmented pieces of the mosaic

take all that i am and may i stand alone before you,
willing only that which you desire.

I am a faceless voice, voiceless face in Israel.
I am Israel and I am not even myself.
We are the hearer-obeyers.
and we are alone before You as you are alone before You.
and before us.

before us
before us
ignore us
bore us
store us.
go before and teach us this
Alone.