Them two old trees

‘’Then Jacob was left alone, and . . . wrestled with him until daybreak.’’

 

From the smallest  of the small

through quarks at the bottom of it all

to the farthest galactic star,

through galaxies spun afar,

we wander in a maze;

we wonder at its ways:

Surely all this stuff did arise from the Creator!

Or maybe it evolved through Nature?

 

Contemplating incredible predetermined complexity,

yet astounded by so much intricate simplicity— 

We find two data sources to uncover,

as if there are two original outgrowths to discover.

 

Now perched on a precipice of nihilistic trauma,

we recall an ancient hand-me-down, historic drama:

Two multi-branched entities with o'erhanging claims to maintain us:

Two historic flora-fauna, purporting to sustain us.

One provokes a quandary chasing endless  knowledge;

it arises from, like, stuff we learn in college;

the other, an affirmation, provides purpose for our strife:

we simply harvest belief from an ancient tree of life..

These two trees we see

manifested in humanity.

The smart ones manage to survive

while the faithful eternally revive . . .

'. . . and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

 

King of Soul 

 

The Rabbi's Perspective on Gaza

The book of Genesis gives an account of Jacob wrestling with G_d. I can relate. Sometimes I feel as if I too am wrestling with God.

We are not alone in this contention. In some ways, Jacob is still wrestling with God. History has shown that Israel's contention with Elohim often involves strife with other people. In the present day, the IDF's intrepid excursion into Gaza has called Israel's credentials as a civilized nation into question. If Jacob began the invasion opposing Hamas, bloody events have conspired to make it appear as if he is contending, not only with the whole world, but possibly also contending with the One who made the world.

Because 1200 people are dead, most of them innocent civilians, and many of them children.

If Israel's long-range objective is to establish existential legitimacy in the eyes of the world, who is really winning this contest?

Although I am a Christian supporter of Israel, during this last week that supportive voice in my soul has been drowned out with the cry of innocent blood that now emanates from Gaza ground.

I know that Israel did not initiate this defensive campaign with the intention to kill more than a thousand Palestinian civilians.

But that is what has happened. There's no excuse for a thousand dead bodies, most of them innocents and many of them children. Somebody should have had the sense to stop this thing before the loud din of bloody collateral damage drowned out any possible victory proclamation.

In this audio link that I am now recommending, we hear a Jewish voice that is a credible alternative to the Likud/IDF way of doing things. Rabbi Henry Siegman acknowledges that Israel's initial attempt to end Hamas rockets is justifiable. I agree.

But because of Hamas' treachery against its own people, the IDF has suddenly jolted far past the line of what is, among the opinions of mankind, acceptably justifiable warfare. In Rabbi Siegman's interview with Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, he offers an historically-based explanation of why Israel's defensive sortie could have degenerated into such an excessively lethal assault.

The man has certainly earned a right to offer his perspective. He is a former President of the American Jewish Congress, and former President of the Synagogue Council of America.

I am fascinated with Rabbi Seigman's personal history, which includes his family's escape from Nazi Germany. The Siegman family's arrival in the United States during World War II was a thankful deliverance after several years of evading the Nazis during the early Holocaust period.

Born in 1930, Henry was one of six children whose parents secreted the family out of Germany in 1935. Their odyssey of survival included temporary residences in Belgium and Vichy France, and attempt to enter Spain, and eventually a boat ride out of Marseille to North Africa and ultimately a voyage to New York.

In this Democracy Now conversation the Rabbi speaks of his Zionist youth, his later hope that Israeli peace with Palestinians could culminate with Messiah, and his subsequent disappointment that Israel had been unable to reach an agreement with the people who lived in Palestine when the Zionists moved in. The Rabbi's perspective is a highly credible counterpoint to the Likud/IDF strategy for establishing Israel as a nation among nations. In this link to the July 29, 2014 broadcast of Democracy Now, the interview begins at the 19:00 minute mark:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/30/henry_siegman_leading_voice_of_us



Smoke

the continuing saga of Jacob and Esau

A few millenia ago, Social Services was called in to mediate a domestic incident, but it didn't work out. Here's how it went down:
Jacob, the brainy one, lived by his wits and cerebral efforts. He was a mama's boy. Esau, the visceral one, lived by his strength and prowess. Daddy was so proud of him. When the younger Jacob obtained, by deceit, Father Isaac's blessing--a heritage customarily given to the older son, discord ripped the family apart.
These are the words that Isaac had spoken over Jacob, believing that he addressed his older son Esau:
"Now may God give you of the dew of heaven,
and the fatness of the earth,
and an abundance of new wine;
May peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
and blessed be those who bless you."

When Esau discovered his brother's trickery, he got mad. He beseeched his father to undo the blessing that had been inappropriately bestowed, but Isaac would not, and believed he could not.
Don't ask me why. It was apparently some archaic principle relating to the power of patriarchal pronouncements. After this incident, as if things were not bad enough on the home front already, Isaac turned to Esau and said:
"Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,
and away from the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live,
and your brother you shall serve;
But it shall come about when you become restless--that you will break his yoke from your neck."

I don't know how or why. But such is the history of the world, and I suppose, why George wrote while my guitar gently weeps.
Read 'em and weep. You too, Rachel, even as you weep for the children.