I´ve written this poem as my son David came back home after 12 years away. Later on he did go to the mountain of separation, through the quarry of affliction, and I´ve suffered with him from afar. And then, just as I´ve prayed, he came out of it all as a beautiful work of art - a war hero and a better man. David, I´m so very proud of you!
In the picture, my David in Iraq
In the picture, my David in Iraq
(based on Psalms 19:7 and Isaiah 41:15)
A Prayer for my Son
(Dec. 1997)
Your Word, Hashem, is perfect
and restores the soul.
Restores without destruction.
As with Your golden Temple,
no cutting instrument is found
when You rebuild the broken places.
No stone is chiseled
where Your finished work will stand.
They are chiseled elsewhere
in the quarry of affliction
on the mountain of separation.
They are then brought to their fitting place
as beautiful works of art
each one perfect
and finished.
Hashem, my beloved is come
a ragged stone, with rough edges
and unfitting angles.
You will now bring him
to the mountain of separation.
You will now chisel him
in Your quarry of affliction.
You will now keep him apart
until he is made complete.
I understand - but if it’s so,
bring me also to the quarry.
Make me a cutting sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
I will thresh the mountains and crush them
and reduce the hills to chaff
to separate my beloved
to chisel my little one
into a fitting stone.
But it will not be so.
Another will do the work
as he is set apart and alone.
No, not alone. Hashem,
please make me also a stone
to be cut by the sledge.
I will wear his rough edges
his unfitting angles
until the work is carried through
and a thin layer of gold
covers up his every flaw.
Until then Hashem,
keep me in the quarry
with my beloved.