and other sonnets and poems

by Justice Michel M. J. Shore

 

 

To Reaffirm Life's Inner Harmony

Reprinted from The Times of Israel
July 1, 2024

In the midst of turmoil, where to find calm?
In nature recalled, where we found a balm.
The need of strength brings a healing Psalm,
Twenty-three with the gentle breeze of a palm.

It embraces our being for us to proceed
In life’s mission and tasks where G-d does lead,
Amidst outer chaos to plant a seed
In memory of those who did, to feed,

At the table of obligations,
All present and future generations.
We regain complete equilibrium
With love and meaning from their lives’ requiem.

We must all be musicians in life’s symphony
To reaffirm life's inner harmony.⬢

 

Reflection on Psalm 23

Reprinted from The Times of Israel
July 2, 2024

(Related to my most recent previous posting)

In your world’s garden,
I lose myself in you, God,
And thought remains still.

All merges, becomes one
Your collage, transfixes my soul,
Stream, river, pasture

Turns sky, sun and clouds,
Reflected in the mirrors
Of my eyes;

Hand in hand, we walk
As You teach me Your ways and
Accompany me home.⬢

 

Conscience Awakens to the Events- -October, 7, 2023 – Simhat Torah

Reprinted from The Times of Israel
October 11, 2023

There are those who must act due to the events;
There are those who must speak of the events;
There those who must decry the events;
There are those silenced by the events.

I speak of those silenced by the events;
Paralyzed into shock by the events;
The hostages tortured in the events;
Loved ones in the nightmare of the events.

Those who commit without conscience the events;
Those who celebrate the acts in the events;
Those who choose to overlook the events;
Witnesses in disbelief of the events.

How will the world at large record the events?
The Judgment is pending as witnessed by the events.⬢

 

The Choice is Ours-
Freedom of Will and the Paradox

Reprinted from The Times of Israel
July 4, 2023

G-d gave us freedom of choice!  G-d knows the outcome of all; then, how do we have freedom of choice? What a paradox!

A parable- a father takes his child to a banquet of appetizers, soup, main course and dessert. There are six choices for each course. The father knows, in all likelihood, that which the child will choose, knowing the child's likes and dislikes. Nevertheless, that does not diminish the child’s freedom of choice.

Whereas, the father, in all likelihood, knows that which the child will choose; that may not be a certainty. With G-d, it is different, G-d is within the past, present and future, in every dimension and beyond all dimensions.

G-d is the knower and the knowledge. Free choice is ours; yet, G-d knows the outcome; although, we do not know! That does not limit our free choice. It depends on each one of us, how we choose to use free choice. The choice is ours!

G-d did not make us puppets on a string.
Thoughts, words and deeds are determined by us.
We may not be first to pose an act;

Yet, how we will react is decided by us.
Numerous scenarios are possible.
All in our grasp, to play out, which to choose?

What we choose to think, say and do, releases
Or imprisons us, in our net of choices, lost,
From opportunities, which would transform

Our history and of others, and more…
Yet, G-d may redeem us from error, if…

We change course by the choice, we then do choose.⬢

 

 

"Hineni" - Here I am

Sonnet with a Refrain

In Tribute to Rabbi Moishe New of the Montreal Torah Center: Who when asked how he is, responded, ”I am here”.
Reprinted from Times of Israel, published June 9, 2023

Moses’ response to G-d is a refrain:
From generation to generation,
“Here I am,” Moses replied to the call.
For all Your requests, I will give my all.

Who am I, L-rd, but to do Your will!
But, am I capable to fulfill
All that You set before me to transmit,
For the burning bush to be forever lit?

In the souls of all whom I encounter,
To stir every soul to its Founder
Of conscience that must awaken and arise
To the grand mission, that all of us, ties

For a purpose which seems beyond our ken,
Yet, to realize it, again and again.

Refrain
That the conscience must awaken and arise
To the grand mission, that all of us, ties.
Then, all that You set before me to transmit
Will keep the burning bush forever lit.⬢

 

But to Enter the Cave of our Heart!
 

(In memory of Shimon bar Yohai)

But to enter the cave of our heart
When we cannot withstand the world apart.
We see what it was truly meant to be,
Away from the tumult, we find the key.

It is within every you and me,
If we enter the inner world to see,
Riches and treasures that uncover
And remove the chaos to discover:

Music of the soul in epiphany
Between heaven and earth in symphony,
To the orchestra in its harmony
That lights inner being in unity.

How can we journey there while in this world?
*When we practice, we keep ourselves unfurled.⬢

*(When we practice Mitzvot, we keep the Torah open in every facet of our lives.)

 

It is Your Coronation-Rosh Hashanah
 

Dear, Dear, Lord, it is your Coronation.
You created the cosmos for all of us.
You are the Creator, Architect, Designer,
Landscape Artist, Ruler, Judge and King.

 Your Coronation takes place annually.
Yet, we Crown you over and over again.
As we, Dear Lord, choose you to be our King.
By our conscious choice, our desire is voiced.

The shofar awakens our soul’s purpose.
To abide by Your Laws and Moral Code.
To recall the universe which You gave us,
Conditionally, if we fulfill our role.

As Your partners to the Tikkun Olam,
We must repair unkept promises from Sinai.⬢

 

Judgment Day at Rosh Hashana Has Come

Judgment day at Rosh Hashanah,
All the evidence is before the Court.
There are no counter arguments voiced.
No objection to irrefutable proof.

Only a plea for mercy is in order.
Every deed examined in open Court.
Each individual is on the docket.
Every thought, word, act, scheme is scrutinized.

All is weighed on the Divine Judgment Scale,
The heaviness of opportunities lost,
Premeditated acts and negligence.
Considered in review by the Divine .

Yet, compassion brings mercy to hold sway.
With plea bargained Judgment that pronounces life.⬢

(written in memory of my Father, Sigmond Shore, Shimshon ben ha’rav Michael Arie on his Yar Zeit, 24th of Elul and in memory of my maternal grandmother, Lusia Herzig, Leah bat Avraham, Yar zeit on 25th of Elul, both passed to their eternal rest in 1967)

 

 

Bati Legani- “ I Came To My Garden”

 Baruch Hamakom Baruch Hoo (Poem in Iambic Pentameter) 

 

“I wanted to be welcomed in my garden,
 The garden, I created for Adam and Eve.
 Yet, I retreated to the Seventh Heaven,
 As I was no longer at home in you.

I gave you all, and more, for contentment,
I gave you myself and you deprived yourselves
Of paradise in your ‘spirit of folly’.
How sad I was for you and, thus, for me!

Each one of you mean all to me, as you are
The very purpose for My creation.
I created you, you and you
To reside in each one of you, my beloved.

I waited for so very many earth years
For Abraham my devoted child to call
That he was ready to leave from himself
And his place of birth for the journey,

To the country, to which I would give him,
To the land, where his descendants would live,
If they would hearken to my instructions.
It then took seven generations more.

from Abraham, seven generations
to Moses and the forty more years
Of travail and striving, moral loss and gain
To return to the land, promised to Abraham.

I then returned to My beloved garden
In the Sanctuary, which Moses fulfilled,
And had had brought to the land from deep within     
Himself, thus, transmitted by my faithful servant.

My presence, therefore, remains forever, here
Waitng, always waiting, for you, my beloved
To welcome Me, deep within your spirit,
For you and I to reflect, forever,

______________________________________________

that I am within you; and you have made
a place for me, within your Holy Spirit; 

_______________________________________________

Never for us to depart from each other.
You are precious to me; and, the garden home
In which We reside together, is the One,
for which I created it all, to reside

Here in the Eternal now,
The Home, in which I can fulfill all, for you,
As was meant, in My desire for creation,
When I set out to give you my Paradise.”⬢

 

Jerusalem - The Upper and Lower Dimensions  

There are two Jerusalems, one, Lemala 
In the inner or higher dimension; 
The other, in the outer or lower, Lemata,
Of importance that they not be in dissension.

How does one then reconcile, the two?
Knowing that the lower one must reflect
The higher, which exists for its potential to pursue; Thus, to transcend and protect...

The ideal, that exists in the higher sphere,
To be embodied in the Earthly realm.
Begins in each one of us, now and here,
If we steer with a clear life- purpose at the helm.

Earthly Jerusalem, thus, constructs a bridge
Long-awaited as its Heavenly ridge.⬢

 

 

A Prayer After Meron -Lag b’Omer 5781  

 

There is no why?
We do not ask; how can we?
Together, we only sigh.

O L-rd, like Job, still,
Yet, listen to our gevaldig
Plea, the time is now.

For Mashiach to come;
Lag b’Omer, the Plague stopped.
Joy was to spread its wings.

Allow our Yirah
and Ahava wings
To bring you this plea.

We await Ibishter
For your early response, now.
Please, do not tarry.⬢

 

Torah Journeys With G-d 

IN MEMORY OF OUR MOTHER, DR. THERESE LENA SHORE - TENYA BAT YACOV YEHOSHUA

“When G-d is with me, I know where I have to go.”
Our Mother said, for us to know, where we must go.

As the Torah states, Noah walked with G-d.
Abraham walked before or in front of G-d.
Noah accompanies the One Divine.
But Abraham walks ahead by design;

To ensure honour awaits the Divine…
Yet Moses follows each sign of the Divine.
From the burning bush, G-d, thus, does assign
Moses for a mission with Israel to align.

What to say, what to do and where to go!
Moses' mission, his task is to follow
The pillar of cloud by day, pillar of fire by night,
To ensure thereafter outer and inner sight.

Thus, what is our ultimate purpose?
To walk in G-d’s ways, not to live on the surface.

 

Rosh Hashana Sonnet - 5781

Inspired by the teaching of Rabbi Moishe New

Written on the yarzeit of my Father, Shimshon ben ha Rav Michael Arie ( Sigmond Shore, OBM)

 

How do we approach G-d and for what?

Hannah's prayer in the Temple sought,

Not but a child for her to brighten her lot

But, was for her soul’s devotion, to laud G-d.

 

To have her child come to this world to sanctify,

Magnify and glorify all G-d had wrought,

On Rosh Hashana, the annual Coronation

Of our one G-d, our L-rd’s revelation.

 

More than we could ever fathom, seeing

Beyond creation and His Eternal Being,

Beyond understanding, yet in unification,

We stand in awe with angels in celebration.

 

Wanting to serve more than who we simply are,

To forever aim to serve within, further afar.⬢

 

Friday Afternoon

 

Friday afternoon awaiting Shabbat, 

It always awaits us to reach out of ourselves,

In time and space with a welcome mat.

Eternity returns with delights on many shelves. 
 

To entice the senses with celebration,  

For us simply to acknowledge our elation 

At this Divine table by invitation 

That requires our conscious participation. 

 

An awakening of the soul in unity 

With the Divine and all humanity, 

In the spirit of a messianic age, 

Making  of us a prophet and a sage. 

To listen, see and feel pulsation,  

In wind, breath, sun and rain vibration.⬢

 

SONNET FOR ROSH HASHANA

 

First in motivation, last in creation,

Man was created in the image of G-d;

Woman was formed without hesitation

From Adam, together, creation to laud.

 

To dispel loneliness, the couple is one

With many a daughter and son;

With all for life to avoid strife;

All was in harmony with blessings so rife.

 

To celebrate God’s earthly treasure

Of bounty without pressure;

In what can we take pleasure?

When according to G-d’s laws we act within measure!

 

An income tax of the soul is to give account,

To renew our ledger for our potential highest amount.⬢

 

SONNET FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Reprinted from The Times of Israel
Sep 24, 2023

The scenes, sights, sounds and scents project within;

Remain, as ever present for replay.

The Day of Atonement brings them forward,

For review, to recognize, acknowledge

 

And understand, how we can make amends!

To be reborn and to begin anew!

The Ledger awaits our soul income tax,

Ethical temperature measurement.

 

Our barometer of morality

Must be an accurate self-assessment;

Otherwise, the whole examination

Is futile, as we Co- Partner with G-d.

 

This is testimony in Highest Court

For the judgment’s signature with compassion.⬢

 

Yom Kippur's Take Home Sonnet

Inspired by the words of Rabbi Moishe New

 

After the high priest pronounced G-d’s Name,

In the Holy of Holies, proclaiming the One Eternal Fame,

G-d’s sanctified and blessed Holy Name,

Thus, accepting physically, we are but dust’s grain.

 

Given our souls solely to sanctify His Name,

To transcend who we are, beyond that which is lame;

Given the holy tasks of Mitzvahs for our lot;

Thus, to partner with G-d, all that can be sought.

 

Therefore, the high priest, after Yom Kippur

Was accompanied by the nation, home,

To his most holy task, to ensure

To remember that sanctity begins with the family at home.

 

From generation to generation,

Only then, can we be true, to the purpose of creation.⬢

 

Tribute in Haiku to the Rebbe, Rav Menachem Schneerson

 

Where does one begin,
To soar with the soul-to soul,
Far from the ego.

To enter a realm,
Where marching orders give life
To deeds that bring light.

The Rebbe lit torches,
Three thousand Chabad Centers
To ignite faith's flame.

From darkness to light,
Soviet Jewry crossed deserts, 
Lost youth found meaning.

Unabashedly,
Tephilin donned, candles lit,
Menorahs ignited.

Hope in troubled times,
To generations needs,
To search, transcend.

Find within the One,
All there is in space and time,
For Eternity.

To transcend and start,
Where others left off journeys,
To be undertaken.

For l'dor va dor,
Guided teachings and writings, 
Awaken the conscience.

To reach the promise
Of the land within
And return therein.

This, the Rebbe did.⬢