The sparkle of the arctic ice at sunset

bejeweled and so tantalizingly close

dazzled my eyes enough

to lure me outside.

Now peering through a frosted window

at my family gathered round a crackling fire

I shiver beneath the scrutinizing stars

while my orphaned chair

basks in the frolicking light.

My eyes from a self-portrait

stab at my trembling heart

as it pines for that image.

I shove the creaking door hard enough

for the smoky warmth to tingle my nose

and grace my blue lips

as they silently and solemnly swear

to keep both feet inside

from now on.

 

A Jew neither wants nor is able to be sundered from G‑dliness.

– HaYom Yom, Sivan 21 & Tamuz 25

My father said: Coldness and heresy are separated by so slender a barrier! It is stated, “For the Eternal your G-d is a consuming fire.” G-dliness is a flame of fire. Learning Torah and praying must be with a blazing heart, that “all my bones may utter” the words of G-d in Torah and prayer.

– HaYom Yom, Shevat 16