Towards a Progressive neo-Hasidism
Content Warning: The following poem uses Jewish mystical texts referencing the biblical injunction against tattooing and cutting the flesh.
On Rosh Chodesh, the Messiah ascends and engraves in the body of the Divine all those killed by the other nations. -Zohar 1:39a (summarized)
You shall make no gashes in your flesh
I am YHVH
And you are in My image
But you shall mark My flesh
Just as I mark yours
I hurt when you hurt
And I hurt when you hurt
Your act wounds Me and I break you
Your pain breaks Me too
As you carve their names in stone
I carve them into My body
A Self-harming
When the Self-become-self is harmed
As you mark forehead and arm
Imprinted with My name
I carve remembrances of you
Forehead, arm, and heart
So that when I pray, My mercy may overcome My anger
That I may bestow strength
Instead of acting out of it
That I might accept the shed tears
And not lead the world back into chaos
As you mark the one mark
So I mark my own
י׳׳ש שמו עמו אל׳׳י
יש עמו אלי
You are physical and I am physical
You are material but Ehyeh Ayin
As your acts break and heal
So I heal and break
Place Me as a seal upon your heart
The impression the reminder
Of the Presence-of-absence
Just as you are a seal deep within Mine
Of the absence-of-presence
Seal Me in your moments
Carve Me into the flesh of your world
Write on My body every note
Of love
Of pain
Remind Me
In scream and whisper
Hold your body tight
As if it were Me
As you are Me
Let Me bear your marks
I am YHVH
You are in My image
And Your image is in Me
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This poem contains references to the following sources: Vayikra 19:28, Bereishit 1:27, Shiur Komah, Zohar 1:39a, Zohar 1:53a, Zohar 1:39a, BT Berachot 7a, BT Berachot 6a, Eleh Ezkerah, BT Sanhedrin 91b, Shir HaShirim 8:6, and Tikkunei Zohar 17bb-18a. It is also in direct conversation with the following source:
תקוני הזהר י׳׳ז ב׳ – י׳׳ח א׳ בראשית ב' ראשית. זה השער לה' צדיקים יבאו בו. דא איהו תרעא (נ"א יראה) דצדיקייא דאית לון רשו לעאלא תמן. (ואחרנין) ודלאו אינון צדיקיא אתדחיין מתמן. בה רשימין ומצויירין ומתחקקין דיוקנין דעלאין ותתאין ציורא דאדם רשימא תמן ואיהו דמות אדם. דמות אדם דא שכינתא קדישא דאיהי דיוקניה. איהי חותם דיליה. (דמות דיליה). ועלה אתמר שימני כחותם על לבך.דהכי אמרת שכינת' (נ"א אמרין ישראל בגלותא) אע"ג דאנת תסתלק לעילא (מעלמ') דיוקנך לא אתעדי מנאי לעלם. כההוא חותם דבההוא אתר דאתדבק ביה רשימו דמארי חותמא. לא אתעדי מניה דיוקנא דחותמא לאשתמודעא ביה. ובג"כ אמרה כ"י (נ"א אמרי ישראל בגלותא) שימני כח ותם על לבך כרשימו דתפלין דיד דאינון לקבל לבא. כחותם על זרועך כתפלין דרישא דאינון תליין רצועין לכל סטרין עד לבא ודרועא ובהון אינון רשימין דאינון עמיה דקב"ה. ועוד שימני כחותם דא חותם דאות ברית קדש והוא אות ברית שבת קדש וימים טובים. כי עזה כמות אהבה. תקיפא איהי אפרשותא דקב"ה ושכינתא מישראל כפרישו דנשמתא ורוחא ונפשא מגופא. וישראל אמרין רבון עלמ' אע"ג דאנא בגלותא מרחקא ממך. שימני כחותם על לבך ולא יתעדי מינן דיוקנך דאיהי חותם דילך שכינתא דילך. דבגינה אנת הוית דכיר לן בגלותא. וחותמא דקב"ה ודאי איהי שכינת' | Tikkunei Zohar, First Tikkun, 17b-18a This is the gate to YHVH. In it, the images of higher and lower are inscribed, depicted, and engraved. The depiction of “Adam” is inscribed there, and it is a “human form.” The “image of Adam” is the Holy Shekhinah, for She is His image. She is His seal, His form, and about Her, it is stated: “Place me as a seal upon Your heart.” For thus, Israel says in exile, “Even though You will ascend upwards from the world, may Your image never leave me forever.” Like a seal, which, in the place where it held onto Him, the impression of the Master of the seal remains. The image of the seal is not removed from it, so that He may be recognized by it. And therefore, Israel says in exile, “Place me as a seal upon Your heart” – like the impression of the hand tefillin, which corresponds to the heart. “Like a seal upon Your arm” – like the head tefillin, which hangs, straps to all sides, toward the heart and the arm. Through these, they are inscribed, for they are the People of the Blessed Holy One. And furthermore: “Place Me as a seal” – this is the seal of the sign of the holy covenant of circumcision, and it is the sign of the covenant of the holy Sabbath and festivals. “For love is as strong as death” – the separation of the Blessed Holy One and the Shekhinah from Israel is as harsh as the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. And Israel says: “Master of the Universe! Even though I am in exile, far from You, place me as a seal upon Your heart, and let not Your image be removed from us. For She is Your seal, Your Shekhinah, for Whose sake You were remembering us in exile – and the seal of the Blessed Holy One is certainly the Shekhinah. |
(All quotations in italics are Shir HaShirim 8:6.)
Geo Poor
Geo Poor is a doctoral student at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, where he is focusing on Kabbalah. He is the Director of Operations and Finance at the Vilna Shul, Boston's Center for Jewish Culture. In his spare time, he creates daily(ish) memes about Talmud and Kabbalah on Instagram, bakes babka/challah of wacky and delicious flavors, and plays archery dodgeball.
