Tazria, תַזְרִיעַ  "She Bears Seed"  Leviticus 12:1-13:59

Tazria - The Tefillin of the Heart

The Tefillin of the Heart - poetic notes on Tazria*

There was a mitzvah of love 

that was prepared and hidden like a jewel

for the daughters of Israel

It was wrapped in a garment of judgment,

on that night

when Adam’s kingship ended in Egypt,

when it died with Egypt’s firstborn

That was the mitzvah of the soul’s inner lightning

lighting the Sabbath candles

with the light of faith,

faith in Israel’s belonging to HaShem the Redeemer

That was the mitzvah that was wrapped in judgment,

the judgment that was a promise

to be opened on Mount Sinai

That was the jewel wrapped in mystery

when Adam’s kingship was cut off by the arm of HaShem,

when the promise of Israel was born

from the womb of the covenant

A woman has given birth

She has emerged from her immersion in a mikveh

Her male infant is circumcised on the 8th day

HaShem held a newborn in his arms on Mount Sinai

Then the daughters of Israel lit their Sabbath candles

as a new creation of hope,

a hope so bright 

that it turns the spiritual night into a spiritual day

From then on, wherever the Jewish daughters were

whatever exile, whatever generation,

time didn’t matter

Whenever their candle flickered,

their heart was wrapped with bindings

like an arm wrapped with tefillin,

a daughter’s heart wrapped with faith, 

wrapped with love for Israel’s God

Whatever month it was,

it was like the first Sabbath of Pesach

for the daughters of Israel

When they lit their Sabbath candles,

it was always as if they lit them in the first month

for their light was the light

of an entirely new and different creation

From the smoke of their candles they inhaled and exhaled

the Garden scent of Eden,

the scent of the Garden before 

and the scent of the Garden to come,

as they sat their families down

at the Paschal table

and heard the prophet speak about Jerusalem,

“The year of my redeemed is come!”

Nisan, the first month of the spiritual year of redemption,

the first month of an eternal world now coming

Seeing the Sabbath candles of Jerusalem’s daughters,

the abashed moon become new

again and again, until David was born,

until HaShem’s Temple Home was built

Still the sun rose annually over Egypt

The sun would continue to circle the nations,

until Israel would be made a new heaven and earth

Flicker little candle

Flicker for the learning of the long and beautiful night

of Israel’s Torah lessons

This is the Sabbath candle of the month of Pesach

This is the nature of the Jews

They bring their Mishkan dedication offerings

to Mashiach’s Temple, the Tent of Meeting

When will the light of the moon be like the sun?

When will the light of the sun be like that of seven days?

When the Sabbath candles of Israel’s daughters

become the light of the world

This could not be

until the habit of the world was broken by them in Egypt,

until their seven days were complete in the Land of Life,

until the new Adam was born in the resurrection,

until the Jewish boy

was circumcised on the eighth day of repentance

All of this mystery about Mashiach

Why should there be so much mystery 

about Mashiach here on earth?

No sooner did Jerusalem ask than her freedom came!

Then they were free!

Then they all were free

to wear their heart on their sleeve,

to wear a mitzvah like a well fitted garment

The Jews never had names for the days of the week 

…or the months of the year

Then the eternal Sabbath came

and all but God and his Torah was forgotten,

all but God and the sheep of his pasture passed away

The sun gave its day

in the shade of the moon

and the nations were

no longer destroying the world

The Jews of every generation 

sat down at table 

with their ancestors who came out of Egypt

This is the nature of the Jews

What is the Hebrew word for history? 

There is no word. Why not? 

There is only an eternal story

Feel the pulse of the Jewish people and believe, and live!

The human soul longs to be perfect

It longs to be positive about redemption

Now right to the point! 

What was in need of correction and exile?

What was in need of redemption?

The impure and diseased and contagious soul itself,

the soul in which pride has corruptly mixed life and death

To be clean or not to be clean,

that is the question

To be pure or not to be pure,

to be without a single stain of dishonesty

and to stand before the Holy God…

This is the need of the soul

Today, if you hear His voice!

He has removed the foreskin of Isaac's heart

He saw that Adam could not stand forever before him

He chose Jacob and his descendants 

to provide atonement and reveal justice and mercy to Adam

Mount Moriah will cause Israel to grow,

to bud and blossom like a rose,

a covenant of many fragrant roses, 

a world to come in full bloom

“For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,

until the brightness of her salvation

goes forth as a burning light”

This is the light of the Sabbath candles

of the daughters of Israel

Her two witnesses are two mothers,

Rachel and Leah

Let us trust the testimony of the mothers

who anticipate redemption

who's faith turns worlds inside out

and upside down

overthrowing the edicts

of czars and caesars,

setting all things right,

a prophetic preparation for the rose covenant of Israel, 

to be fulfilled,

the covenant of eternal redemption

The words of HaShem will be obeyed from the heart,

by all peoples and nations,

even while they are still being heard,

in accordance with the lessons of the children of Israel

Theirs is the incarnate tefillin of the heart

Theirs is the calendar of redemption