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Section 3 of “Shekhinah: The Presence” by Joseph Zitt
This is an unedited scan of the text, courtesy of Josh Ronsen
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She is spirit
She is air
She is earth on fire
Above, below the waters
She is but a fragment
The least, some say,
of the shells
of the Creator
but yet
the least part of the infinite
is greater than
the greatest of us,
we who are defined
by flesh
and continuity.
She is everywhere
the creator is;
that is-
she is everywhere
yet she is
most wonderfully,
here
summoned by prayer
summoned by our intent
summoned by our wishes
from the silent world of dreams
Arise, most ancient!
Arise, our mother!
Arise, our bride!
Arise, our daughter!
We raise our eyes
our hands
our hearts
our voice
unto the hills
and sing together
"a song for the dedication of the house"
"a psalm for the thanks-offering"
"a hymn for praise"
and psalm after psalm
"Hallelujah!" (146)
"Hallelujah!" (147)
"Hallelujah!" (148, 149, 150)
and from Chronicles, Chronicles,
Nehemiah, Exodus
we praise the Creator
who may or may not be hearing us
who may or may not accept us
who may or may not answer
our prayers,
praises,
supplications
but even those of us who wonder
if the Creator exists at all
or ever did
or ever will
join in the song
as if our voices
can will into existence
the one whose will
would have caused us to exist
and from the fervent murmur
of our voices
joined together,
once per psalm
in unison,
then breaking apart again
to the true human rhythm
where the solitary
simulates the simultaneous
like the waves,
joining, peaking,
then drifting back
to independent currents
like the eagles
soaring in a seemingly
common spiral
(yet, if you watch each one,
flying in a multitude
of personal air-dances
of ragged individuality)
arises a more powerful magic
a common voice
the syllables we utter
combining, merging
an incantation of secret names
that no single voice
could dare pronounce
as inverse sacred lullaby
and from the slumber
of pauses between prayers
of the passage between planes
of the journey
through the spheres
to this lowest
(but still needed)
world
our ancient
mother
bride
child
wakes!
and lowering her arms
opens her eyes
tests her legs
(to see whether
she stands on sky
or on our far more common
ground)
steps
pauses
steps
her legs are the legs
of a colt
new to gravity
her arms the wings
of dragonflies
soft taloned fingers
those of eagles who
in unseen gentle moment
nurture new-hatched young
her body the stem
of a warm-blooded sunflower
turning slowly, slowly
as she
pauses
steps
pauses
and focuses our intention
on her Presence
on the Presence
of the Creator
of this manifestation
of words of love
of words of law
(not made flesh, no-
though we can touch her,
hold her
dance with her
in this extended moment,
still she has no
failings of the flesh
and can not ache
and can not strain
and can not,
even for a moment,
die
yet will be here, real,
while sustained by our intensity,
and little longer
till she must return
to the world of dreams
or another hall of prayer
and focuses our hearts upon her
and we circle her like planets
reflecting her light
upon each other
echoing her movements
and as she moves,
we move
and as she sings,
we sing,
and as she wakes the morning world
we step
pause
step
and each in his own manner
every body, every soul,
adding the motions we have learned
in the pain and joy
of our existence
repeating and embellishing
her praisedance
in private ways
step Hallelujah! (all the earth)
Hallelujah! (o my soul)
Hallelujah! (all the angels)
Hallelujah! (with a new song)
Hallelujah! (closer, closer)
drawn by joyous gravity
we circle her,
we fall in toward her,
longing for her
to embrace the Presence
grasp the heart of prayer
lay our hands upon the holy
and our leader calls out,
"Glorified!
Sanctified!
is the Great Name!"
and we move to melt into the Presence,
lose ourselves in her,
she who loves and comforts
she whose power is such
that we forget ourselves and
move
to
lose
our
selves
in
joy!
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