Blessings

March 28, 2009

In Judaism, there are blessings upon blessings to underscore our intentionality toward the gift of life. There are blessings for shrubs and trees, the fragrance of fruit, plants and herbs, the budding of a fruit tree, and on an on. My previous visits to Israel have been during the summer or fall, with the heat and the dry, hazy, unchanging earth tones. Being in Israel in the spring for the first time allows me to experience the miraculous unfolding of this season, each day is different in color, fragrance, and feel in the air. I came upon this poem by Shin Shalom, an Israeli poet, who was born in Poland in 1904, and died in Israel in 1990.

On the fifteenth of Shevat,
When the spring comes,
An angel descends, ledger in hand.
And enters each bud, each twig, each tree
And all our garden flowers.
From town to town, from village to village
He makes his winged way.
Searching the valleys, inspecting the hills,
Flying over the desert.
And returns to heaven.
And when the ledger will be full
Of trees and blossoms and shrubs,
When the desert is turned into a meadow
And all our land is a watered garden,
The Messiah will appear.