We weren’t just at Sinai

 

We weren’t just at Sinai.

We were there at Tsimtsum, at B’reishit.

When Elohim emerged

As the heavens and the Earth.

We were the nothing that became

Everything

Every thing

Every every

We were the dust and the firmament.

We were the waters below and the waters above.

We shaped into plants and animals.

We grew into the Earth: Adome:

Adam and Chavah.

We rested and we continued to change.

We were Creation.

We still are.

 

 

Love

 

Physics’ great quest

the unified field theory,

a force that connects the four forces into one.

 

Gravity’s the force that describes one object’s attraction for a second object.

Another name for that is love.

 

When that attraction is strong, electromagnetism holds atoms together,

preventing one object from crashing through the second one

so dominating it as to destroy it.

Another name for that is love.

 

Electromagnetism tells us

protons should repel each other and the atom’s nucleus should fly apart;

but there’s something stronger than electromagnetism,

stronger than gravity,

the strong force keeping atoms connected.

Another name for that is love.

 

Neutrons change into protons and electrons, and make nuclear fusion possible,

make stars possible,

make life possible.

Physicists call that the weak force.

I call it love.

 

Search for the unified field no longer

Love connects the four forces into one,

just as it connects us into one.

 

 

Before the forever connection

 

Before the forever connection,

before there was two,

before the birth of stars,

before the firmament and the floods and the flowers,

before fin and fur,

before the need to rest,

 

before there was a before,

 

I am becoming.

 

What I am has always been,

the constant exchange between

these atoms

and

these waves,

 

intent and consciousness

always a part

of this Eternal Now.

 

Once

I knew

I am One,

A little piece of the One

Infinite Becoming.

 

After the finish of flesh

after the death of rock and sky and light

I am

still a little piece of Infinite Being.

 

 

Rosh Hashanah

 

the first streak of orange

arrives on top of the pines

reflects on the lake

mirrored blue, black, still

a soft cool breeze wakes me

to the endless possibilities

It’s a new day.

It always has been.

 

 

We are the ocean

 

We are the ocean,

But for a short time

We are the wave.

Honor the ride.

 

We are the air.

But for a short time

We are the wind.

Honor the gust.

 

We are fire,

But for a short time

We flame.

Honor the spark.

 

We are the earth.

But for a short time

We flower.

Honor the bloom.

 

We are a small piece of the One,

But for a short time

We are.

Cherish that time.

_____________________________________

Herb Cooper-Levy is the Executive Director of FocusMusic, a nonprofit presenter of folk and acoustic music in Washington, D.C. He also serves as Community Coordinator for Kol Ami, the Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community. This past summer, Mr. Cooper-Levy was a part of Hevreh: A Community of Adult Jewish Learners.

This is the first time that Judaism and Science has offered a collection of poetry. As the month of Elul nears, and we begin a period of introspection, we are pleased to be able to provide another approach to the exploration of fact, fiction and faith from the Jewish perspective.