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ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-06-06 08:48 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-06-06 08:48 pm
Entry tags:
Poem: "When Warmth and Gentleness Are Needed"
This poem came out of the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. It also fills the "community" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Clay of Life.
"When Warmth and Gentleness Are Needed"
As Menachem and Yossele
were traveling in late fall, they
were beset by a terrible storm.
First it rained, then it hailed,
and finally it heaped on the snow.
Wind threshed the forest and
wrenched limbs from the trees.
Menachem and Yossele huddled
in a traveler's shelter, horse and all,
grateful for the heat that poured out
from the blacksmith's traveling forge.
After the storm, they trudged through
the snow toward the nearest village.
There they found the community in
shambles. Houses were damaged
by the high winds. Villagers struggled
to clear paths of snow and light fires
in what houses remained whole.
At once Menachem unpacked
his wagon and set up his forge
in the village square where
busy feet had trampled
the snow mostly flat.
"Go and help those
who need to move
heavy things, and I
will mend what can be
mended," said Menachem.
So Yossele the golem went
among the villagers and carried
firewood or picked up things that
the wind had flung about or
helped people onto roofs
that needed repairing.
Menachem handed out
packets of nails and hinges
and handles, took in things
that had broken and fixed them,
all without asking for coin because
there no time for it with cold night
quickly coming upon them all.
When it grew too dark to work,
they bundled their horse into
the last standing stable and
themselves into a nearby house.
There Menachem set up rack and
spit to hang pots and roast meat.
Yossele carried the elders and
the injured to sit beside the fire.
"Why have you done all this
without asking a single coin?"
the headman asked, bemused.
"It is our duty to share our warmth
with others," said the blacksmith.
"May we never turn a cold shoulder
to those who cry for help. When
warmth and gentleness are needed,
let us not be cold and hard as ice.
We must stand before G-d and
try to kindle holiness and hope."
* * *
Notes:
As the days get colder with the changing seasons, Rabbi David Wirtschafter invites us to remember that not everyone with a home can afford to turn up the thermostat. Not to mention, not everyone who can afford to turn up the thermostat is spared from power outages or system failures.
Here’s a prayer for our warmth on chilly nights:
Help us O Source of light and heat to share our warmth with others.
May we never be too cool to be bothered with someone else’s sorrows.
May we never turn a cold shoulder to those who cry for help.
When warmth and gentleness are needed let us not be cold and hard as ice.
When fires of hatred and violence burn let us not be frozen with fear.
When fragments of shattered hopes fly through the night air like shards of broken glass may we stand before the Source of Oneness and try yet again to restore the wholeness and holiness we seek.
May this be our blessing and let us say: Amen.
Among the more popular wares of a blacksmith are the tools for cooking over a hearth or a campfire. These include a variety of spits, racks, pots, pans, hooks, handles, and so on.
janetmiles. It also fills the "community" square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Clay of Life."When Warmth and Gentleness Are Needed"
As Menachem and Yossele
were traveling in late fall, they
were beset by a terrible storm.
First it rained, then it hailed,
and finally it heaped on the snow.
Wind threshed the forest and
wrenched limbs from the trees.
Menachem and Yossele huddled
in a traveler's shelter, horse and all,
grateful for the heat that poured out
from the blacksmith's traveling forge.
After the storm, they trudged through
the snow toward the nearest village.
There they found the community in
shambles. Houses were damaged
by the high winds. Villagers struggled
to clear paths of snow and light fires
in what houses remained whole.
At once Menachem unpacked
his wagon and set up his forge
in the village square where
busy feet had trampled
the snow mostly flat.
"Go and help those
who need to move
heavy things, and I
will mend what can be
mended," said Menachem.
So Yossele the golem went
among the villagers and carried
firewood or picked up things that
the wind had flung about or
helped people onto roofs
that needed repairing.
Menachem handed out
packets of nails and hinges
and handles, took in things
that had broken and fixed them,
all without asking for coin because
there no time for it with cold night
quickly coming upon them all.
When it grew too dark to work,
they bundled their horse into
the last standing stable and
themselves into a nearby house.
There Menachem set up rack and
spit to hang pots and roast meat.
Yossele carried the elders and
the injured to sit beside the fire.
"Why have you done all this
without asking a single coin?"
the headman asked, bemused.
"It is our duty to share our warmth
with others," said the blacksmith.
"May we never turn a cold shoulder
to those who cry for help. When
warmth and gentleness are needed,
let us not be cold and hard as ice.
We must stand before G-d and
try to kindle holiness and hope."
* * *
Notes:
As the days get colder with the changing seasons, Rabbi David Wirtschafter invites us to remember that not everyone with a home can afford to turn up the thermostat. Not to mention, not everyone who can afford to turn up the thermostat is spared from power outages or system failures.
Here’s a prayer for our warmth on chilly nights:
Help us O Source of light and heat to share our warmth with others.
May we never be too cool to be bothered with someone else’s sorrows.
May we never turn a cold shoulder to those who cry for help.
When warmth and gentleness are needed let us not be cold and hard as ice.
When fires of hatred and violence burn let us not be frozen with fear.
When fragments of shattered hopes fly through the night air like shards of broken glass may we stand before the Source of Oneness and try yet again to restore the wholeness and holiness we seek.
May this be our blessing and let us say: Amen.
Among the more popular wares of a blacksmith are the tools for cooking over a hearth or a campfire. These include a variety of spits, racks, pots, pans, hooks, handles, and so on.
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