Rosh Hashanah Opens Up the Book

September 22, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began on the evening of September 20 and ends this evening, September 22. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are a time when one’s repentance may affect whether one is written into the book of life or the book of death for the coming year.

Today’s poem is a Rosh Hashanah poem about the power of repentance.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Rosh Hashanah opens up the book

Of life, that we might be inscribed therein.

So does the will work wonders with the wind,

Harrowing the leaves that tempests shook.

How might we make our peace with death and pain?

As terror stalks our steps, how might we dance,

Singing through the vales of circumstance,

Happy to be alive through loss or gain?

All we have are justice, hope, and love,

Nor will these weak or insufficient prove

As we repent our evil once again,

Having faith it will not be in vain.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/roshha.html. For more poems for Rosh Hashanah, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

September 18: Righteousness Ought Not Be for One’s Self

September 19: Remember the Utility of Shame

September 20: Return Each Year to Test the Ancient Waters

September 21: Rosh Hashanah Opens to the Page

September 22: Rosh Hashanah Opens Up the Book