Vayelech, וַיֵּלֶךְ "And He Went" Deuteronomy 31:1-31:30

Vayelech / The Woodcutter*

Poetic notes for a meditation on the parashat Vayelech*

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil

is cut and chopped and left in pieces

The tree of life alone remains

standing without a scratch

The two entwined trees once shared one root

but did not ever bear one fruit

Now the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil has been cut in two,

and the evil half is fallen,

with no life left on the ground

except its poison pollen

And now the tree of life

has gained another branch

It has now acquired the branch

of the better half of knowledge

For the two are now one tree

And now the tree of life spreads its root

deeply throughout the ground,

and with its leaf enthrals the heavens

With his shadow already ascending,

Moses finished speaking

to one tribe of Israel after another

He spoke like a lover one to one

He spoke to Knesset Israel glowing like the sun,

at the communal sacrifical table

Then Wisdom, seeing and feeling this,

being full of excitement, cried

She cried out loudly in the streets!

The rulers heard Wisdom thunder

and crouched lowly in their seats

Throughout all the world and to all generations,

Wisdom cried out clearly

Wisdom called out like a woodcutter,

declaring that Moses had wielded her,

had wielded Wisdom like an axe,

to split in half

the Tree of Knowledge,

to free the knowledge of good from that of evil

Moses spoke books of light in plain sight

He spoke the secret ways of Wisdom

directly to his nation, Israel

He cut the dark branch of evil knowledge

straight off from the root of life

The branch of liberated life

sent out shoots of roots into all the earth,

to bless through Abraham all earth’s families

Let us not come to the end of this world

and forget its beginning*

Remember the day of death and life

of God's firstborn nation,

when absolute justice

and absolute mercy became one

Give us, Blessed God, the most narrow lens

that we might focus on the light

of the good that is at the very end,*

where absolute justice and mercy are one

Moses was the tree surgeon

He saved the world for Mashiach

And Mashiach comes to the world for Moses,

to receive the patient from him

and keep the world alive forever

Joshua and David were attending doctors,

and many nurses were standing by and helping

Even the Tree of Life must have surgery

in order for Creation to live forever

The time of the Fall and the time of the Spring

became one day to the mind of God,

the holy Day of God’s Name

The Master Woodcutter rose up

The nations were pruned back

The root of Jerusalem

spreads throughout all the earth

Soon its leaf shall shelter all the worlds

Let Humanity repent fully for its deadly way

Let us stand without guile before our Maker

Let our final end have some real substance,

instead of it being better had we not been made

Because at first we concealed our sins

At first we were unrepentant,

unprepared for redemption

We cannot even remember all the places

we’ve tried to hide our sins

Did we leave them in the closet up the stairs?

or do we carry them beneath the sole of our shoe?

Let Humanity approach Yom Kippur,

approach at the foot of the holy crown,

and say, “I am prepared to be!

I am prepared to become and be!”

God will listen, God will hear

His eye will widen

His tears will glisten

God will ask for His atonement

And His atonement song will be sung

His melody will be sung in solidarity with His world,

an atonement song that every child can sing,

and thus embarrass even the moon

Only then will the moon glow with eternal light

and thanksgiving joy forevermore

On the eternal Day,

the eternal Day of God's Name

The Master of the Field knows

Every word is a whole world*

The ultimate word of prayer is entirely good,

from its first letter to its last*

It is the tree of life,

a tree cultivated by the Master of the Field,

who watered all the trees in all the field

and opened up its sky,

to the sun of righteousness,

with healing in his wings*

May Jerusalem as one return to You, Hashem,

with Your holy returning light

May no will be found in her but Yours

May You live and be fully in her heart!

What then will her economy be?

The making of peace and tranquility

Her wealth will be immeasurable

Had Adam and Eve not been separated

and united in marital love,

the world could not have won,

could not have even begun*

And would not Jerusalem and Mashiach

come to embrace in marital love,

there could be no eternal life

Without Jerusalem as Mashiach’s home,

there is no peace in Adam's bones

Our sins flash floods of hatred, stones and blood

Our sinful fears consume the soul

and make the world boil

And our sinful hungers lay in wait to prey

on our every little bit of righteousness

But you have chastened your people double

for all our sins

Embrace us with Your calm

Cover us with a mother's gentle wings

May the atonement You make for Israel

spread to the upmost distant stars

May Your atoning love for Jerusalem

raise Adam from the dead

May the woodcutter,

who has laid his axe to the root,

cut the tongue of evil with all its knowledge

from every son and daughter of Jerusalem

May he make the evil inclination mute

Where did Moses go?

He went to speak to Israel above and below,

in order that all the world would know

that the knowledge of God is without evil

He went to speak to Elijah and to his Messiah,

to prepare for the glorious Day of God

Where did Moses go?

He went to conceal a measure of light

that had come with him into the world,

until the hour when Jerusalem would make herself ready,

prepared for the redeeming light of Yom Kippur

Jerusalem comes in Sabbath Light,

to stand forgiven with her God

This makes the nations rage and light their ovens,

This makes them spin and wobble to and fro

May God strengthen Jerusalem's soul

and help her keep her balance

When the Goliath nations pushed and pulled her,

Moses covered for her sins

Mashiach is her only goal

Moses covered a measure of God's final word,

to create time and space for Jacob to prepare

for God’s Day, the Day of God,

the day of the revelation of His Holy Name,

which Adam knew but, when he sinned, could not remember

Cover Jerusalem with Your covering, HaShem!

so that no more can sin be found in her,

so that the light of your word forms her wedding gown

and its radiance can break through the world’s gloom

Let the nations rage

Let the peoples imagine a vain thing

Resurrect the days that have died,

oh Blessed Holy One,

the days that we have polluted and killed

Make all of them the moments

of Your coming Yom Kippur,

moments of sorrow turned to joy,

joyous days and years with You,

performing Your tzedakah,

fulfilling Your good pleasure

The days of Jerusalem shall not die

Not one of her days shall be buried and forgotten

All of them shall live

All of Jerusalem's days shall be prayers

All her days shall declare to her children

the wondrous deeds of God!

Wash us from our iniquity

in the waters of creation,

and, from our sins,

cleanse us as a newborn people,

a nation crossed over the waters from death to life

Let Jerusalem dedicate herself to You again

Open the door of heaven and be at home in Jerusalem,

and never be separated from her again

Then we will magnify Your Name in truth

Every letter of Your new tablet magnified and made great!

Nor shall any shard of Your broken tablet be forgotten

For we confess our sin and praise You

Your glorious forgiveness

and transcendent mercy are life for the dead!

You are the Master Woodcutter,

who has redeemed the tree of life

from the winding vine,

from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

We all are Your woodcutter apprentices

You are the Master Water Carrier,

who carried in secret the water of the world,

that the thirst of the world,

the dying thirst of its spirit, might be quenched

And we are Your apprentice water carriers

Just as You are the servant of Your creation

we are made Your servants on the day of Your atonement

Atone for us with Your Day,

that we might apprentice as worthy servants

and be what You created us to be,

servants in the likeness of God

Let now Rachel's tears,

with Sarah’s laughter,

be a river of life and joy

With All Israel

I will rejoice and come alive before You!

With All Israel

I will sing praise to Your Name

on the Day of Your Name

O Most High, our Kind Creator!