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Pesach
It's time
to call upon the name of God
Ein Sof
One without end
Whose horizons stretch forward endlessly,
Who is always there, always near
Ein Sof,
One without end,
Who continues on with me forever.
Even the word sits powerfully on the tongue,
freedom.
And in its wake
longing rises as surely as the waves,
so breathtaking, so salty, so elusive.
Each year
each day
each moment
each breath
You liberate me
that I might go to the wild places.
Under sun and through dried mounds of earth
I move towards that which I don't have in my life.
Just its dim memory
which You etched
into my soul.
You guide me
away from the whip, from hunger, from fear,
away from watching my newborns drown in the river,
away from the land that is too narrow.
 I move towards the Sea
towards freedom,
towards wilderness and wide spaces
towards an unseen and promised land
towards the unknown within myself.
Each spring
I follow the same route.
Ein Sof,
One without end,
how subtle, how eternal, enslavement can be
growing round and round me like wild vines,
beautiful, lush,
choking life beneath.
Get ready,
get ready,
for that which confines me,
that which I know well,
can feel like an old friend when it's finally time to say goodbye,
and can hold on
fondly.
 And I need walk away
and leave it behind.
Leave it behind.
Leave the narrowness,
the constrictions,
which distort my soul,
which imprison my spirit.
And breathe the night air
deeply into my lungs.
And watch the blue stars shimmer above.
They say one need travel in wilderness to hear Spirit.
Mystics go to the desert, drawn
like ones who walk to unheard music
calling, calling,
calling out their names.
Anything can happen there.
Bushes glow, angels dance, mountains burn with fire,
the common becomes transformed.
One emerges
different,
shedding a skin,
shedding a part of self outgrown,
and it can feel cold without its comfort
for a while.
So be with me
as I rid myself of that which keeps me small,
as I taste the salt of freedom hungrily on my tongue,
as I stride eagerly through the waves,
and Ein Sof, as I emerge, teach me
what it is like to have space without end
what it is like to be unlimited
what it is like to be free
May I emerge from the waters with new parts born.
May I walk into the heart of the wild with open awe filled eyes
Ein Sof One without End
Teach me what I need to know
That there is no limit to soul
That there is no place without You.
Ein Sof
Photography Credits:
First photograph: Leonid Rozenfeld
Second photograph: Alon Kvashny
Third and fourth photographs: Vicki Hollander
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