Dukkha-Torah
The unbidden tears
The trembling in the heart
Human life conducted in the dark
The hidden fears
The inconsolable grief
Many fear-filled years
A craving for permanence
For the enduring stillness
Of the Sea of Galilee.
But walk instead with me
To the tomb of Maimonides:
Why do the wicked prosper?
Why do the righteous die?
Answer came there none
Except in the Song of Solomon
The season of singing has begun.
Gehinnom, that citadel of souls,
Shines behind the sun,
We do not know of the world to come,
Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed
Taught us not to ask for whom the bell tolls
In the valley of the dead, on the mountain of souls.