After The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Leghorn, Italy, by Solomon Alexander Hart (England) 1850
Their caftans sweep across the floor,
as they bear and present the law,
Torah scrolls encased in velvet manto,
topped with silver and gold finials.
They proceed down the stairs of tradition
from the bima to awaiting elders
in turbans and youngsters in training.
Be strong, be strong, and may we strengthen one another.
Descended from expelled Iberian ancestors,
the men practice what they’ve been taught,
what they teach their sons:
To read, revere, rejoice
through turbulent times
Be strong, be strong, and may we strengthen one another.
They touch their fringes to the sacred scrolls,
kiss the fringes in appreciation. The silk,
the blue stripes, that design of us Hebrews,
remembers everything, because
we’ve been strong and strengthened one another.
_________
Barbara Krasner holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has been featured in more than seventy literary journals, including nonfiction in The Manifest Station, The Journal of Expressive Writing, Collateral, South 85, and Vassar Review. A multiple Pushcart Prize nominee, she lives and teaches in New Jersey, USA.