(Dedicated to the true friendship between Yitro and Moshe, and to all the holy bridges and tzadikkim)
My love is broken by the
Heaviness. If only for
A warmer time -
Light rain and breeze and joy,
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
God and man.
All pain is only challenge,
All suffering - 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
Yet go through
The darkness of the low.
Find myself incapable.
Only love carries me -
Even that sometimes 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 One,
Who shines through all true friends.
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. |