A Poem For the Pentecost

~ A Poem for Shavuos ~ * Two Jews, three opinions Twenty-nine of us need three minyans * Yet when we camped at Sinai, all arguments stopped Jaws in heaven must have dropped Angels astonished - Not one human complaint? If they'd blood in their wings, surely they'd faint What caused this dramatic transformation from rank division to unification? ... The divine souls G-d implanted within us * embraced their source, Divinity Itself At that juncture, our fragmented souls reunited Like 'one man with one heart,' crystal-clear sighted Quarreling stopped, though later to restart ~ For a magic moment, Divine souls not torn apart ______________________________________________ *Notes: 'Shavuos' is the original Hebrew name of the hol- iday known to Christians by the name of the 'Pentecost.' Shavuos means 'weeks:' Seven weeks between Passover and Shavuos. The next (50th) day is the holiday, the 'Pen- tecost.' ... A 'minyan' is a Jewish prayer quorum, which re- quires ten men age 13 or over for public prayers. (The number '29' in the poem therefore introduces a slightly jocular tone, as by rights it should be 30)... Finally, see Genesis 2:7, wherein G-d breathes a soul into Adam through his nostrils.