for Parshat VaYechi
i
Jacob blesses his grandchildren,
saying:
let them multiply as fish
in the midst of the land.
*
Such a strange blessing!
ii
When God makes the things of the water,
the word fish is not mentioned.
Fish is first mentioned
only when God announces Man
who will rule over all things,
who will rule over the fish of the sea.
*
God sends Israel through the Sea
and rescues Israel from Egypt
and the Children of Israel
saw the great Hand of God,
and they believed in God.
*
We are land dwellers.
Things of the water do not exist for us
until we and they are brought into connection:
until we rule over fish,
until God protects us with His Hand.
Then these things come into view,
and they exist for us.
iii
To be a fish that thrives on land
is to live that connection
that seems impossibly unapparent
between the world where we exist
and the world beyond—
between the land and the sea,
between our lives
and the Hand of God.
*
Jacob blesses his grandchildren:
live that hidden connection so firmly
that it becomes you.
________
Shabbat shalom,
Abe
________
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