(Dedicated to the holy bearers of the burden of tikkun, the holy Yehudas of the world)
My love is broken by the
Heaviness. If only for
A cooler time.
A time with breeze and joy,
Less destruction and heat.
More lightness.
Distant from the light
Not because of any externality
Not because of my personal evil
Only weakness, tiredness
And lack of joy
In me and my people.
And then they come to remind us
Those souls who do not understand
A dark world.
Only light and conversation between
G-d and man.
All pain is only challenge
All suffering is necessary teaching.
And I am the bridge
The clash between the distant
And the light.
And then we are the bridges
Those who can hear and listen,
Bear pain and yet be full of joy.
I know the truth of the higher
But experience the darkness of the low
Find myself incapable of the job.
Only love carries me and sometimes
Even that seems too little.
The one saving grace
The teaching of the Righteous One
The main path from the side
That moment to share the burden
With a friend.
The friend, the Only Friend.
The One who shines through all true friends.
And now the bridge leans towards the light
Tipping all those on it
To joy, to love.
To rest from the pain.
Rav Raz Hartman
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Rav Raz Hartman, born to Israeli parents, grew up in Southern California. He was attending U.S.C., majoring in Music Peformance, when he met Rav Natan Greenberg. That meeting eventually result in Raz's coming to the Bat Ayin Yeshiva, where he studied for six years and was given Semichah in 2003. He is married to Leah, and they live, with their three children, in Nachla'ot, Jerusalem. Raz serves as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo, and founder of the v'Ani Tefillah minyan. He has produced several albums of Jewish music. |