for Parshat Yitro
i
God tells Moses:
I will give the Torah to Israel.
Let the people prepare themselves
and let them wash their clothes
and on the third day, I will come.
And Moses speaks to the people
and the people wash their clothes
and Moses says:
let no man come near a woman,
be ready for this third day.
And Moses ascends alone
to the mountain with God.
*
Soon after,
the men snatch the women’s golden earrings
and melt them down to make the Golden Calf that they worship.
God nearly leaves the people.
ii
But God forgives the people.
And the people make a home for Him.
And the men and the women bring gold jewelry together
as gold for this home
and wise women weave fabrics
and wise men serve as craftsmen
and God dwells in this home.
iii
Moses says: we must meet God in holiness,
alone from each other.
But from this aloneness
the men snatch from the women
and nearly chase God away.
*
When the men and women build a home together for God,
God comes in.
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The phrase “be ready for this third” day is based on the JPS translation.
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Shabbat shalom,
Abe
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