*

*

Tradition should have a vote, not a veto,

say the Reconstructionist Jews.

My vote goes for the third eye

Let the enigmas be unveiled

*

In the 1830s, tradition did have a veto

that sent the mystical teachings

into hiding.

Exoteric, rational thought is all very well,

but teach me the mystery, hidden magic

*

Kabbalah kept its secrets for decades,

even from Jews themselves.

Oh, my young loss,

the longing for light, peace, infinity

*

The deep way, what is received,

handed down orally,

rebbe to student.

I would kneel at your feet, blessed teacher,

where are you?

*

It found a haven from the Inquisition

in Safed, then Palestine.

Above dusty streets, the hills echoed

with holy words

*

Kabbalah’s view is a cosmology,

of four worlds,

spirit, mind, heart, body.

Spirit flame burns, mind chatters,

Heart stretches, body dissolves

*

Through prayer,

with inward intention,

one rises from world to world,

to reach the goal:

nearness to God.

*

Nothing is outside of God.

*

Had these teachings

been made known to me

fifty years ago

who knows

what sort of Jewish mystic

I might have become?

from The Jew in the Lotus, by Roger Kamenetz