In the wedding hymns of students of Hillel and
Shammai 31
In reconciliation of brothers and family Like Isaac and Ishmael Esau and Jacob Who mourned their loss , Crying upon each other ’ s shoulder , When they could have been biting . Laughter unbound seeking The Refugee at Be ’ er Lahai Roi 32 Of therapeutic Jerusalem youth-songs 33 Of a people ready to listen and Return to shepherding Stepping aside to see that we ’ re all bushes burning And reaching out our hands Like a prince or a princess wading in the bulrushes Of mothers and fathers who build arks And mothers and fathers who bring them to shore Of old-women songsmiths who shake their booty for liberation 34
Of sisters who challenge their brothers when they are wrong 35 , When they build walls , Of songs and verse and story that inhabit questions Of we descendants of songwriter-prophets and kings Who sing , play , and write , and teach them .
Rav Chazzan Michael McCloskey serves at Temple Emeth in Chestnut Hill , MA .
31
Babylonian Talmud : Yevamot 14b
32
See Genesis 24:62 and Midrash HaGadol on Parashat Chayyei Sarah , 62
33 https :// jerusalemyouthchorus . org /
34
Exodus 15:21
35
See Miriam ’ s and Aaron ’ s challenge of Moses in Numbers 12 . Some theorize that he had divorced his wife Tzipporah and sent her away and that the siblings were holding him accountable .
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