Poem for the Ten

I was born weak, my vessel so small,

No wisdom, no craving, no strength at all.

Alone I would fall, my Torah be dust,

But in you, my friends, I place all my trust.

Through your fire I’m lifted, your yearning my guide,

Your love is the shelter where I can abide.

Not wicked or righteous by nature’s decree—

But righteous through you, for you carry me.

 Born a fool, with no flame in the night,

No hunger for wisdom, no yearning for Light—

The drop is decreed, “weakling, fool,” so it seems,

Condemned to the dust, to a life without dreams.

Yet the Creator, in mercy, He scattered the seeds,

Planted the righteous to answer our needs.

For alone we are ashes, corpses that rot,

But beside the great ones, new powers are caught.

The fool has no vessel, no craving, no fight,

But he cleaves to the righteous—receives their delight.

What I lack from my birth, I inherit through them,

As a beggar made king in Jerusalem.

Without them, my Torah is poison, a knife,

But with them it blossoms and gives me true life.

So wicked or righteous is not in the bone,

It’s chosen in love, it’s chosen in home.

So I fall on my face, in weakness I cry,

“Friends, lift me upward, don’t let me die!”

And the Creator replies with a whisper above:

“You are righteous through them… through faith, through love.”

 Rosh Hashanah Cry

The shofar breaks the silent night,

It calls us back to love, to Light.

The world kli trembles, torn apart,

Yet hope still burns within the heart.

The ego shouts, “It’s mine, not yours!”

But faith above reason reopens the doors.

Together as one, we rise and we pray,

That love will be written and never decay.

Creator, bind us, soul to soul,

Repair the vessel, make it whole.

A new year dawns, the heavens sing,

Inscribe us in love beneath Your wing.

 Rosh Hashanah Cry of the Ten

The shofar breaks silence, it pierces the air,

A cry from our hearts that we all must bear.

Israel rises, one voice, one song,

To crown our Creator, to Whom we belong.

We tremble and yearn, for the year now renewed,

Each prayer is a vessel, each tear is imbued.

Not for ourselves, but the whole world to see,

That “The Lord is our God” for eternity.

Our sins we confess, our pride we let fall,

The King takes His throne in the hearts of us all.

The judgment is heavy, yet mercy shines through,

For He seeks our return, to make us anew.

So, friends, my beloved, my brothers, my kin,

Let’s rise above reason, let faith flood within.

May our Ten be the spark that ignites every soul,

Till Israel glorifies Him, and the world is made whole.

 The year begins,

the mask thins,

and the heart hears a call in the bone.

The serpent grins,

counting wins,

“Keep it mine, keep it safe, keep it alone.”

But we’ve seen that trick,

it burns us quick,

so we gather the shards we can find.

We cut the slick,

ego’s pick,

and choose the King above the mind.

I am my Beloved—

that’s the shove-ed—

annul my will before His own.

Then love is covenanted,

fear is woven,

and Malchut rises to the throne.

Write us to life,

cut off the knife

of tail-chasing questions—“Who? What?”

A lion’s tail,

faith above veil,

we follow Hesed through the clot.

Shofar breath,

sweetens death,

judgment turns to mercy’s tone.

Black and white,

we sign the light,

good writing carved in living stone.

Empty space,

we lift in grace,

Romemut fills the hollowed cup.

Pomegranate case,

seeded place,

every lack says, “Friend, rise up.”

Not one by one—

that’s never done—

we bind as one society.

Shoulder to shoulder,

warmer, bolder,

we cancel exile’s piety.

Crown Him now,

teach me how—

let Your glory not lie in dust.

Make our vow,

make us bow,

turn all receiving into trust.

 The year begins, the ego cries,

“Keep it mine, believe the lies.”

But we choose the crown, the King above,

Harsh to the self, yet filled with love.

Shofar sound, it cuts the night,

Turns the judgment into light.

Empty hearts, like seeds we bring,

Pomegranate full—faith above, we cling.

Not alone, but hand in hand,

One society takes its stand.

Brutal truth, the vow we make—

Unconditional love for heaven’s sake.

1. Awakening – The Point in the Heart

I wander through life with hollow eyes,

Drunk on illusions, feeding on lies.

But a thorn in my chest will not let me sleep,

A hunger eternal, a yearning so deep.

I thought it was madness, I thought it was pain,

But it whispered of truth I could not contain.

“Seek Me in love, not in gold or in lust,

Build in the Ten, in connection and trust.”

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2. Despair – Revelation of Evil

I tried to rise, but the ego screamed,

It shattered my hope, devoured my dream.

Every prayer mocked, every deed cursed,

The will to receive showed its teeth at its worst.

I saw my reflection, a beast in the glass,

Laughing at virtue, spitting at class.

And I cried, “Creator, why was I made?

To drown in the filth of the ego’s blade?”

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3. First Light – Faith Above Reason

In the pit of despair, a spark appeared,

Silent and small, yet sharp and seared.

Not knowledge, not proof, not reason’s chain,

But a whisper of love that broke my pain.

“I am with you,” the silence said,

“Not in your mind, but in what you shed.

Give one drop of love, rise above strife,

That drop is eternal—it’s true, it’s life.”

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4. Connection – The Ten as the Vessel

I fell to the friends, my brothers, my shield,

Their love was the ground where the Light was revealed.

I annulled my pride, I swallowed my hate,

For in them I touched the eternal state.

Each heart was a flame, together they roared,

A field of mercy, the dwelling of Lord.

In their embrace my soul could breathe,

The death of self was the life I received.

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5. Faith and Love – The First Degree

Through the brutal fight, through the endless cost,

I found the one thing that is never lost.

Not power, not wealth, not a fleeting dream,

But eternal love, the Creator’s gleam.

So I give and I burn, I rise and I fall,

But the drop of bestowal outlives it all.

And though I am nothing, my soul can sing—

The first degree is everything.