My
mother created a gorgeous tallit
for me, and this poem was a thank you to her…
A tallit is a Jewish ritual prayer shawl, worn during a
prayer service.
In our community, when we recite the Priestly Blessing
("May the Lord bless you and keep you…") we wrap our tallitot around
the shoulders of those standing next to us, understanding that it is not
priests or rabbis who are the bestowers of blessing, but we to each other.
My mother and father together made tallits for each of my children as they came of age. Being far
beyond the coming of age, I did not feel I could ask for one of my very own
(which I never had).
When I did, my mother created a gorgeous one for me. I picture her working
on it: an ancient tribeswoman, an artist, whose hands and vision bring about
miracles.
Tallit
And
the daughter who was herself beyond two score and ten
saw
that the woman’s fingers had begun to twist like branches of an ageless tree
and
she asked this of the woman
and
the woman said
yes
and
the woman took up
the
tool of her ancestors
and
set to work,
made
thousands
of
perfect stitches
each
nestled snugly to the next
like
lovers spooning in exquisite fit.
On
the virgin white cloth
that
the woman cursed for its slipperiness
the
stitches multiplied
in
mitotic unfolding
as
if the silken threads
were
spun from the very tips
of
her fingers.
The
story rose off the cloth,
a
sculpted bas relief
that
could be read by touch as much as by sight
spun
for the younger one
as
unique as a fingertip’s whorl
and
mythic as the song sung on reedy shores
when
being came into being:
begotten
and begetter
beloved
and lover
seeker
on her way from Eden to Canaan
carried
on the tides of history, the shoulders of her people
her
own feet wet from the crossings made.
And
the older woman gave the garment
To
the younger
a
swaddling cloth of pictographs
that
wrapped the girl season upon season
in
the gift of her own life.
--Sheri
Lindner
November 3, 2007
 |
| The author's Tallit |
Sheri Lindner, Ph.D., a former teacher of English, and currently a clinical psychologist, is also a poet and essayist interested in the processes of development and maturation as they are reflected in Biblical stories and children’s literature. Her writings have appeared in Jewish Currents, The Reconstructionist, Reconstructionism Today, Kerem, Jewish Women's Literary Annual, Poetica, Performance Poets Association Literary Review, Matzoh Ball Soup, Soul-Lit, The Ritual Well, and The New York Times.
~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~
This Post is very helpful for me and thankful for sharing the information.
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