39 - For Consolidation

This week’s double Torah portion, Vayakhel/Pekude, describes in exquisite detail the design of all the parts of the tabernacle and its adornments. I especially like the descriptions of the textiles and their makers: (Exodus 35:25-26) "And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, and the purple, the scarlet and the fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair."

Thirty-Nine

For Consolidation

Twine my life to life, O Eternal,
Plied strength on strength,
To nurture my heart and renew my soul.

Join me in a partnership with You.
Tightly wrap my days in duties for Your sake.

Spin around me the words of Your sages,
The dreams of Your children.
Rub my face with the rough weave of women’s stories
To strengthen my faint pulse.

Bind me to Your Torah,
Four bright blue corners
Knotted together for Your glory.

You are the warp and the weft;
Braid in this slender thread upon Your loom.
You are the texture and the smooth cloth;
Form me in a running stitch to You.