{"id":59,"date":"2009-03-07T21:57:14","date_gmt":"2009-03-08T02:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/?page_id=59"},"modified":"2011-10-12T21:44:58","modified_gmt":"2011-10-13T02:44:58","slug":"shekhinah-tefillin-opening","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/books\/shekhinah-the-presence\/shekhinah-tefillin-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"Shekhinah: Tefillin (Opening)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click on the image to your right >>
\nto purchase Shekhinah: the Presence. >><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Shekhinah:<\/em><\/em>
Shekhinah: the Presence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/em>
\nSection 1 of “Shekhinah: The Presence” by Joseph Zitt
\nThis is an unedited scan of the text, courtesy of Josh Ronsen
\n– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

HERE at the start of the day\r\nwe who can tell\r\n  the black thread from the blue\r\n  the blue from the white\r\n  the black from the white\r\nnow (when consensus takes\r\n  the place of agreement)\r\nstand and prepare.\r\n\r\nWe who have entered this sacred room\r\n  (although, indeed, any room\r\n  can be sanctified\r\n  by this purpose)\r\nhave paused by the doorpost,\r\n  touched the box of memories\r\n  that waits there,\r\n  silent,\r\n  whether for us\r\n  or for Elijah\r\n    who will pass through all the portals\r\n    and join the scrolls\r\n    upon the doorposts of all out houses\r\n    into one,\r\nhave kissed our hands,\r\nas if to kiss,\r\n  by indirection,\r\n  the welcoming scrolls\r\n  posted by the doors\r\nthen entered the room,\r\n  greeted by the faint rays\r\n  of the new morning\u0092s sun\r\n  that cast fresh, elongated shadows\r\n  of the Ark,\r\n  of our books of learning,\r\n  of our lives.\r\nWe turn to the East,\r\n  to welcome the sun,\r\n  and see the words\r\n  (now hard to read\r\n  in their contrast with\r\n  sharp morning rays)\r\n  inscribed here on the Ark:\r\n\r\nKnow\r\nBefore Whom\r\nYou Stand.\r\n\r\nEach of us,\r\n  for the moment,\r\n  alone,\r\nreaches for the Talit bag\r\n  (for some, velvet,\r\n    the deep blue of the\r\n    roof of the sky\r\n    in the dying of the night\r\n    just before the sun\r\n    returns to welcome us,\r\n  for the adventurous or whimsical,\r\n    other fabrics,\r\n    other colors,\r\n    expressing\r\n    other joys or memories)\r\nwithdraws the thin shawl\r\n  (white,\r\n  with its stipes of black or blue\r\n  and the fringes at its corners,\r\n    each carefully prepared,\r\n    each with eight threads,\r\n      one twisted seven times\r\n        around the other seven\r\n        and tied\r\n      then eight times\r\n        and tied\r\n      then eleven times\r\n        and tied\r\n      and thirteen\r\n    all these numbers\r\n      merging with the alphabet\r\n      in permutation\r\n      and computations\r\n    so every sum and product\r\n      can somehow praise\r\n      the Holy Name)\r\nwhispers the prayer inscribed on its margins,\r\nwraps it around himself\r\nover his head\r\n  (enclosing the wearer; for the moment,\r\n  in a womb of wool or silk\r\n  in a white filtered shroud of light\r\n    like the one seen by the soul,\r\n    then forgotten\r\n    in the instant before birth\r\n    when the angels kissed it\r\n    to seal away for a time,\r\n    its knowledge of heaven),\r\nthen lets it drift down to his shoulders,\r\n  his back encased in white,\r\n  the fringes\r\n  resting like guardians\r\n  about his thighs.\r\n\r\nAnd from another bag,\r\n  (smaller,\r\n  echoing in design the larger,\r\n  as a student might deduce a principle\r\n    in deriving similarities\r\n    from the general\r\n    to the particular)\r\nsmall boxes, leather,\r\neach small box containing smaller skins,\r\n  cousins to the watchman scroll\r\n  greeted and kissed by the door,\r\neach attached to leather straps.\r\nOne at a time,\r\n  With care,\r\n  With blessings,\r\nwe bind them to ourselves,\r\nthe first sliding up the left arm\r\nto rest by the heart,\r\nthen its straps, winding,\r\n  as if echoing outside our bodies\r\n  the blood that rushes life\r\n  within our hands,\r\n    seven turns down the forearm\r\n    then thee time around\r\n      the middle finger\r\n      betrothing us\r\n        to the Holy Presence\r\n        forever\r\n        for righteousness\r\n          justice\r\n          kindness\r\n          mercy\r\n        for the faith in\r\n          the faithfulness\r\n          of the patterns\r\n    and around the hand\r\n    its patterns forming letters\r\n      of yet another version\r\n      of another Holy Name,\r\nthe second resting between our eyes,\r\nsuspended from a loop\r\n  that rests upon our heads\r\n  like a crown of duty\r\nwith twin descendants\r\n  draping from behind\r\n  over our shoulders\r\n  across the shawl,\r\nthen draping down our chests\r\n  echoing the poise of the fringes\r\n  that rest below.\r\n\r\nThus garbed,\r\nthus prepared,\r\nwe concentrate out attention,\r\n  open our books to the proper pages,\r\nturn to the East\r\n  to the Ark\r\n  to the sun\r\n  to the silent walls of Jerusalem,\r\nand, somewhat together\r\n  somewhat alone\r\n  each, in his separate intent,\r\n  strengthened\r\n    by the others gathered there,\r\n\r\nwe begin\r\n\r\nin hushes close to silence\r\nto pray.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click on the image to your right >> to purchase Shekhinah: the Presence. >> Section 1 of “Shekhinah: The Presence” by Joseph Zitt This is an unedited scan of the text, courtesy of Josh Ronsen – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – … Continue reading “Shekhinah: Tefillin (Opening)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":35,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-59","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437,"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions\/437"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.josephzitt.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}