Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 23, 2012 by Shanee Michaelson
I find myself counting down to Shabbat this week, longing for that peacefulness and a little time to rest. Here’s a poem I wrote a few years ago that was originally published in Hazon He-ATID, the Friday Night Live prayer book of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
shabbat shalom
on nights when the air is still
jasmine blooms by moonlight,
and dainty cockroaches scatter
on broken cement sidewalks.
I think of my grandfather,
bald head beneath his kippah; I see
his salt and pepper mustache,
black walking stick,
crisp white shirt, dark blue suit,
and mischievous smile.
I see him greeting us
at his front door, ready
to celebrate shabbat
together.
for all of us
the worries of the week
were gone.
