Book of Mercy #11-15

[lazariuk]

Lazariuk,

I wouldn't assume that he was solely addressing other Jews. The
word is known enough to both Jews and many non-Jews that it
wouldn't appear totally foreign, but would convey that Leonard
was appropriating it from within the cultural context that he
himself was/is no stranger from -- conveying an insider's
perspective.

Hello Steven
Thank you for responding. You are so right in such a significant way. The word goyim is known to so very many, even if they are not Jews. We are certainly not strangers to the word.

I wonder if there is a similar word that any other nation uses to signify "other nations"? I can't think of any.

I can't answer you, specifically, about the exact language of formal
daily prayer for victory over enemies, as I don't remember it
verbatim and haven't had an opportunity to read it again. But, whatever
the language, there would not be prayer to crush others simply
by virtue of their being different. I'm also sorry that I don't have
knowledge of the origin and development of the prayer.

You are certainly right that it is not a prayer to crush others simply by virtue of being different.

[lazariuk]

I.14
Blessed are you who, among the numberless swept away in terror, permitted a few to suffer carefully.

This sentence is so beautiful and so profound on so many levels in such a vast way that I am sure that I will likely remember it to the day I die. I don't have the ability to write of all the ways it touched me nor all the thoughts it provoked but I would like to write about one part of it and a very specific person it led me to consider.

I think of Dr. Sara Roy as one of the few. She first learned that she was one of the numberless when she was about five years old and saw a number written on her father's arm. Her suffering began much later when, with the unfolding of her life, she came to learn the meaning of that number and that over 100 members of her family had died in the Holocaust and that her father was the only survivor of his family. Her mother had a similar history. I cringe a bit when I include the number 100 which I will explain in my next post.

Dr. Sara Roy currently is a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. With a constant outpouring of wisdom and love she has devoted her life to easing the strangerhood of those who share the land of her forefathers. I have heard her speak and it brought tears to my eyes that there can be such people being moved by such a selfless far reaching compassion.

More on her is easy to find.

[lazariuk]

I.14
Blessed are you who, among the numberless swept away in terror, permitted a few to suffer carefully.

Warning ! Caution ! Warning ! Caution!

Cognitive Shift Ahead
Complete with severe "off on a tangent curve"

Brace yourself to avoid mental whiplash

I was giving some thought to how this line might stand completely out of context of this prayer and this book. I imagined it out on a billboard somewhere and wondered what kind of thoughts it might provoke.

When people saw the word numberless alongside terror and suffering would it cause them to think about what has been numbered and then what hasen't?

Does the number 911 cause people to considser that it is probably very doubtful that every single other number representing a date could be used to remind us of suffering just as horrible or even more so? There probably even was another 911 in history where that date held worse crimes.

Does the number 6 million cause us to consider the losses of other nations whose numbers arn't so well known? I think of the aboriginal people of the Americas whose number is likely far far greater.

When we see how exactly calculated are the number of losses of American troops in Irac does it cause us to wonder at the losses of the other side and the fact they are so vague?

The number of deaths from the bombing of the trade center in New York being so widely well known surely has to cause us to ponder why the ohers are not so well known.

[lazariuk]

I.14
Blessed are you who circled desire with a blade

I was at a wedding this weekend and stayed at the groom's house who was marrying my niece. I noticed that he had one of those curved blades that are associated with Islam. I asked him about it and told him that I was thinking of a poem and in doing so had come to think that for many the moon was a symbol of desire and that since for many the curved blade is meant to symbolize the cresent of the moon, that it had led my thinking that the symbol for Islam could be described with the words "circled desire with a blade"

It is a mistake often made and so I came to forgive myself for making it. I now think of it more as an arab symbol and if it is used as a symbol for Islam then that is probably more for the sake of those who are interested in the use of symbols as the use of the cross for Christians and the star of David for the Jews. It seems that there is no symbol for Islam and that the use of one is not in line with it's teachings.

As a side note: My interest in this prayer-poem this weekend led me to say some things at the wedding that very many there said they cherished greatly. It also interested the bride and groom to take a copy of it with them on their honeymoon.

[lazariuk]

why did he choose to explain this point of all other obscure points in the book? I’m sure we’re going to hear some interesting ideas.

Maybe because he knew that when he wrote "now we can get down to a Jew's business" that it might be difficult for some people to accept that the business could have anything to do with the Jew's relationship with the people they share a piece of land with.

DB

The above was a bit of a smart ass comment that I regret making especially considering how much I appreciate the amount of information you provided for this piece.

[BoHo]

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[lazariuk]

p.s. Jack, thanks for the offer of a coffee; but, no thank you;

Hi Judith
You are a little late. The invitation was for this past weekend when I was in Toronto. I had a little present that I wanted to pass on to you that I thought might be best done in person. It was brought to me by someone from the newsgroup who for some very strange reason had taken an interest in my happiness. I have this idea that passing it on will make it even better. I am not too concerned as I am sure that another opportunity will presesnt itself.

Jack

"Examination of history alters history" T.S. Eliot
"Ezra Pound reported his discovery that the act of thinking alters thought itself" Bucky Fuller

[BoHo]

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[BoHo]

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[tomsakic]

Again this is poetry where I can only stand in bewilderment. I don't think I can rationally see though it. Powerfull, strong prayer. I think it's mainly about deep belief which does not question the entity in which the voice which speaks does believe, and also, it's about love. "Covenant of love" is the phrase which stuck written in my mind. What I wonder mostly is the introduction of HER into the prayer. At first, it seemed as the wrong synthax - who's "her", it can only be newly introduced "she" or it can refer to "understanding". Well, is "she" is Mother, according to sefirots, then it's suddenly logical, but I stay with the impression that "she", who is now expected until the end of the poem, is the woman. I wil not say the mistycal feminine, or ideal woman, or Cohen's typical image of woman as the muse, but it's a woman who will save him. Simply enough.


***


On this place I want also to mention this discussion about Judaism. I am not called to say anything as I do not know much. I was surprised when Jack mentioned Cohen's criticism, and the quote he provided wasn't quite such, as BoHo and Doron explained in much more intricate and elaborate and educated way I could. Enough said. Tradition is the word.


***


Longfellow / Cohen relations, thank you, BoHo. I never much thinked about "ship of state" metaphor I must say as I went to high school which is "classical gimnasium". Ancient Greek and Latin, I learned both. Metaphor of ship as the nation (and also poetry) was much present in old poetry. Also, there's famous Croatian poem from early 20th century, by Vladimir Nazor (who was deeply in Classical references) about beached ship, refering to state of nation at that moment. In Classical literature, I think that naval metaphor was in Horatius, and in Metamorphoses, I am sure I recall the ships:-) I read just now that most famous example of this in English poetry is Longfellow, so Leonard had to knew it. He's old school anyhow, who reads Mathew Arnold nowadays?


***


And, as the poet says, It’s dark now and it’s snowing / O my love, I must be going / The river has started to freeze... I tried to listen to Radio Resistance, but it was the wrong frequency. Or the wrong hook. or wrong harbour.

[lazariuk]

On this place I want also to mention this discussion about Judaism. I am not called to say anything as I do not know much. I was surprised when Jack mentioned Cohen's criticism, and the quote he provided wasn't quite such, as BoHo and Doron explained in much more intricate and elaborate and educated way I could. Enough said. Tradition is the word.

I'll restate a quote from Leonard that I think can suffice to support what I was saying and then I will drop the subject "The Tradition has betrayed the Tradition" I only mentioned the subject of criticism to explain why I thought that after the ending of the last prayer I thought it was leading to him beginning to start writing about Arabs, Israel and repentence. Seeing the next page didn't convince me that I was wrong. It did however convince me to reconsider a lot of other things.

[lazariuk]

I.14
Blessed are you who, among the numberless swept away in terror, permitted a few to suffer carefully.

I couldn't help but notice the repetition of the word carefully, in that the first sentence of the last prayer was about one speaking carefully and then this one about those who suffer carefully.

[Steven]

BoHo,

It seems that Leonard was speaking, particularly, of the state of
Judaism. He addressed what he sees as areas where its health
and balance would benefit by a realignment. There is always room
for improvement, whatever the religion. Leonard paints things, in
his comments on this, with a broad brush. Doing so, though, while
true to his experience, is contrary to that of others who have
found, within their individual and communal practices, the healthy
startus that he speaks of.

[lazariuk]

I noticed that he wrote "Blessed be Ishmael" twice in this prayer and then went on to make it the one thing in this book that he wrote a footnote for to make sure that the reader knew who Ishmael was.

I also wonder why he wrote "for all time" after writing "Blessed be Ishmael"

What is it that he is being very careful about?

[lazariuk]

This talk of covering and wrapping and hiding reminds me of one of my very favorite photographs of all time. It is a Curtis photo called "Waiting In The Forest"
It is part of an abororiginal tradition performed by a man approaching his love.


Jack

"Crazy has places to hide me
Deeper than saying goodbye" Leonard Cohen