'in the Desert'

~ A Poem on the Parsha* ~ 'In the Sinai Desert' A wilderness - barren, desolate that snakes and scorpions populate Flat, sand-swept, open to all who yearn to hear Eternity's call There God led His new nation Spoke to three million, atop a mountain gradation On Horeb, the lowliest of them face-to-face ~ Moses and Jerusalem ________________________________________________ *'Parsha' is Hebrew for (loosely) 'portion.' Every Sabbath a portion of the Five Books of Moses is read in the synagogue. In a year's time, all five books are completed, and the grand occasion is celebrated at the last holiday of the Fall Harvest Season, 'Simchas Torah.' (lit., 'Rejoic- ing with the Law.'). This Sabbath, the portion read is titled 'In the Desert,' from the Book of Numbers 1:1 - 4:20.