Book of Mercy #27-28

[DBCohen]

I dont think DB Cohen is going to be impressed with this little tangent we have sauntered along

On the contrary, Mat... This kind of tangent is always welcome.

But perhaps it IS time to move on…

[DBCohen]

II.28
You who pour mercy into hell, sole authority in the highest and the lowest worlds, let your anger disperse the mist in this aimless place, where even my sins fall short of the mark. Let me be with you again, absolute companion, let me study your ways which are just beyond the hope of evil. Seize my heart from the fiction of secrecy, you who know the secrets of every heart, whose mercy is to be the secret of longing. Let every heart declare its secret, let every song disclose your love, let us bring to you the sorrows of our freedom. Blessed are you, who opens a gate in every moment, to enter in truth to tarry in hell. Let me be with you again, let me put this away, you who wait beside me, who have broken down your world to gather hearts. Blessed is your name, blessed is the confession of your name. Kindle the darkness of my calling, let me cry to the one who judges the heart in justice and mercy. Arouse my heart again with the limitless breath you breath into me, arouse the secret from obscurity.

After a fiery, prophetic piece, here we are back in the language of the Psalms and the Prayer Book. The language of Psalm 119 comes to mind, but certainly not exclusively, as this form of turning to God is also familiar from other Psalms and prayers.

Blessed are you, who opens a gate in every moment – The notion of God opening and closing gates is very common in Jewish lore since the Bible. In #27 we encountered Jacob wrestling with the angel; earlier in his life (Genesis 28) he had the dream about God’s angels going up and down the ladder, and on waking up he said: “this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” In later Jewish tradition we hear of many other gates, among them Gates of Prayer, as well as Gates of Repentance, which close down at the end of the Day of Atonement, at which moment a short but poignant prayer is recited:

Open the gates to us
When the gates are being closed,
For the day is about to set.

The day shall set,
The sun shall go down and set –
Let us enter Your gates!

Translation: T. Carmi, The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse

[lazariuk]

II.27
all of you at war with Mercy.

It brings to mind that this was written by the same man who wrote:

I do not know if the world
has lied
I have lied
I do not know if the world
has conspired against love
I have conspired against love

It seemed to me that Leonard is writing about something he has known about in a personal way when he speaks to those who are at war with Mercy.

[lazariuk]

I'm not good with historical issues, so please correct me if I'm wrong. For me, this doesn't seem to be going back, but to be going forward. Has Palestine ever really been bi-national by peaceable agreement?

I'm going to try to answer this a bit better than i did before. Yes I think you are right that it is a going forward. I think it is this that Leonard refers to when in an earlier part he wrote "Our hope is in a distant seed" I think that deep within all of us we share what I like to refer to as "the loving dream" and it seems that part of that dream is for there to be peace on that little piece of land that people consider holy.

It hasn't happened in a big way, and the thought that it should have might be part of our bloated scrap of destiny. What might be more worth while doing is looking at the very small steps that were taken that lead in that direction, of which there are many.

[lazariuk]

[

II.27
Who will say it? Will America say, We have stolen it, or France step down? Will Russia confess, or Poland say, We have sinned?

Why bother asking who will say "We have sinned, We have stolen it" unless it is something that he thinks could be said?

It seems to me that here he is specifically speaking to the Jews and specifically speaking about the piece of land called Israel. That is the name on the top of the page. I think it is suggesting that the Jews might be the one people who are capable of doing what no other country or people are capable of doing, admitting before God, as a people, a "We", that they have sinned. All of us are certainly quite capable of sinning.

[lazariuk]

II.27
Who will say it? Will America say, We have stolen it, or France step down? Will Russia confess, or Poland say, We have sinned?

I think I appreciate Leonard more for the questions he proposes than for the answers he has.

The question above seems to me to be especially poignant and able to accomodate a number of various positions and no matter what position taken it remains a good question.

One of the positions that can be taken is that it is not unreasonable to think that Leonard can be speaking as a Jew to other Jews about a piece of land that they all have an interest in and then the word "We" is pointing to that unity. Then the question can be " If We sinned and the land was stolen who would say it? Who said it in the past? Who is saying it in the present? Who will say it in the future? Would our political leaders say it? would our poets?, our religious leaders? Who? It's a good question.

The question can go on to ask that if it were true who amoung the other nations would say it. It begins with the country that is known as Israel's so-called friend, America. I am not a young person and I do have some experience with people who consider myself their friend being unwilling to talk about my faults and there are probably all kinds of reasons for that. They are easy to figure out. I found that this is where my enemies sometimes come in handy. One day when I was considering what someone who really really disliked me had said about me it occured to me that no matter how much they didn't know about my life and no matter how much they were being unfair in their evaluation of me that there seemed to always be something true in what they were saying and it was usually something that those who seemed to like were unwilling to say. The awful truth that we raise our glasses to is an aquired taste, like all drinks that are bitter. Again it's a good question to ask " who would say that We have sinned?

[Steven]

Hi Jack,

I think that he is using Israel as a metaphor. The broad range of folks included
within the category of those that are notched down to unworthiness, failing, humility is
akin to Yom Kippur confessional prayers. In the Yom Kippur prayers there is confession
for communal and personal wrongs. The larger community, here, includes parties other
than the narrower individual category of Jews.

[lazariuk]

The larger community, here, includes parties other
than the narrower individual category of Jews.

Hi Steven

If you knew me well you would know that a suggestion to be more general would cause me to consider being more specific. The larger is there but it is the small that i see hope.

It causes me to consider Deir Yassin

When I look at Leonard's prophetic piece it also brings to mind a prophetic bit of hope.

One time Martin Buber wrote:

"The time will come when it will be possible to conceive of some act in Deir Yassin, an act which will symbolize our people's desire for justice and brotherhood with the Arab people."

That time is now.

For me Deir Yassin is a unique case in the history of the Holy Land.

When I took a look at the events in Palestine I tried to see it from many points of view. One of the points of view was the official view of Israel. It was one that I knew that I had to consider carefully to find truth in it.

Not too many years ago in Israel some people took the position that the texts used in schools should no longer use what was clearly lies and propaganda. It went as far as the Supreme court of Israel. The government made no attempt to deny that it was lies but just took the position that it was in the best interest of everyone to withold the truth.

I read the official book put out by the government of Israel called "The Arabs in Israel" and although almost everything about the poor treatment of Arabs was denied the one exception was the case of Deir Yassin. Although not willing to take responsibility they did acknowledge that the land was stolen.

There exists a group called Deir Yassin Remembered and coincidentaly one of the board members in his statement included in full this piece by Leonard Cohen that we are looking at. They have also produced a video that I think people would be interested in seeing. It is very moving.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2419569830

I hope people watch it.

[Steven]

Hi Jack,

I wasn't suggesting that you be more specific, but was putting the passage within a
specific/general framework that Leonard experienced in the Yom Kippur liturgy.
And, yes, I see that you recognize that "The larger is there..." But, Deir Yassin
as relevant here? Of course, consider it if you want. And I could say that there is
evidence that loudspeakers were used to warn the populace and we could go on
and on. I'd rather not; "ain't nothing good" would come of it. Back to the poem
and flowing from this stream of thought, is that Leonard was writing from the
prophetic tradition here (not claiming him as a prophet). It might have been
Jeremiah who said that none are righteous. And that sentiment can be read in
Leonard's words and does apply in the specific and general sense.

[DBCohen]

The introduction of #28 three days ago has so far gone unnoticed. Isn’t anyone interested in commenting on it? I thought some of our regulars must have missed its introduction up on page 5 of this thread, so here’s a reminder. Hope to hear from you at your convenience.

[lazariuk]

Hi Steven

First let me say that my heart feels that I owe you an apology. I feel an interest in responding to what Leonard has written in a way that makes sense to me and as that goes there are certain things that I get interested in writing about. I plan on writing about them anyway but sometimes I think the act is going to a lonely one and so I try to fit in what I was going to write as having a place in the response of another, and i see that is what i did with you. it might lead you to thinking that you are under some kind of obligation to respond to me in kind. Please feel no such obligation on my part and I will not be offended if you just ignor me. I think that is what Doron was hinting at for you in his last post and I don't think it is an unreasonable hint.
As for me I will just stay at the part that has my attention until it does no more.

My focus might get broader when I get further along in this piece but for now it is still at the beginning where I see the Title Israel and the words "thieves of Holiness" What now has my attention is the word Holiness but I will write about it in another post so that you do not need to feel that you are being personally addressed. I am sorry if I offended you.

Jack

[Steven]

Hi Jack,

Thank you for your kind words. No apology is needed, though I appreciate your
saying what you did. Often I don't reply to things posted, not out of a desire to
ignore someone, but out of time constraints or being too occupied with off-forum
things to adequately consider what someone presents. In those times, it's not
a disrespect for a person or matter, but not wanting to give short shrift to
someone or something that deserves better than I can offer at the time, that
results in my being silent.

[Steven]

Doron,

This passage is rich in mystical/kabbalistic imagery. The gates he is referring to,
are those beyond most conceptions of conventional religious practice. They are
entre' into depths of experience that aren't ordinarily sought or acknowledged as
desirable or God-given. The yetzer hora (evil inclination) and yetzer tov (good
inclination) are mystically both valid pathways towards holiness and Leonard
reveals knowledge of this with the light/dark contrasts that are pervasive in
this verse. This is esoteric ground and I don't feel competent to expand much
on it and misunderstandings that can arise could be disadvantageous/dangerous
to anyone that might want to incorporate this stuff into personal religious practice.
So, I'll maybe just leave this observation at the level of acknowledgement.

[mat james]

“You who pour mercy into hell, sole authority in the highest and the lowest worlds, let your anger disperse the mist in this aimless place, where even my sins fall short of the mark. Let me be with you again, absolute companion, let me study your ways which are just beyond the hope of evil. Seize my heart from the fiction of secrecy, you who know the secrets of every heart, whose mercy is to be the secret of longing. Let every heart declare its secret, let every song disclose your love, let us bring to you the sorrows of our freedom. Blessed are you, who opens a gate in every moment, to enter in truth to tarry in hell. Let me be with you again, let me put this away, you who wait beside me, who have broken down your world to gather hearts. Blessed is your name, blessed is the confession of your name. Kindle the darkness of my calling, let me cry to the one who judges the heart in justice and mercy. Arouse my hear again with the limitless breath you breath into me, arouse the secret from obscurity.”

where even my sins fall short of the mark.

I can relate to this

Interpretation:

You, God,
Make us long for you
And this is your act of mercy
For without the longing
We would have no inclination to seek
And without the seeking
We would remain ignorant of
The beauty of knowing You
(that cloud of un-knowing,
-being aimless in the mists of ignorance)

Let me be with you again, absolute companion

I have known your beauty
And I would love to enter you again
My soul longs to love you
And I thank you for this longing
As it is this longing
That leads me to you door
And led you through these gates of hellish ignorance
to me
And that wedding feast I sing of in my songs

But usually you elude me
I know you enter
This world of unknowing
To help us re-cognise You
I know you know my inner thoughts
And I kid myself if I think I hold any secrets from you
We have known each other before
Thanks to your mercy
So let me know you again
Breathe into me
Arouse me once more
Lover of lovers

My Absolute companion.


This is what it says to me DB, Steven and all.
Matj

[lazariuk]

II.27
all of you are thieves of holiness

this phrase just seems to beg the question " what does it mean for a land to be holy?"

How do we get a sense of what he is meaning by that if it not part of our experience that the land is holy?

In a recent past post I wrote about Deir Yassin and what I see as something very good that is happening there. One of the primary things that is happening is that a group of people, mainly Jews are helping another group of people, mainly Palestinians treat a small piece of land as sacred and holy. Do they have the right to do so?
The answer that comes to me is in the small, in the moments when Love budged an inch. Those acts where the land was loved.

In 1938 M. Gandhi wrote an opinion, that was much sought for, on what should be the fate of the Jews and Palestine. For many Jews it was very disheartening. He stated very clearly that he though it was a grave injustice that the jews should be considering a homeland in Palestine. He said it was an occupied land and that "Palestine was for the Arabs like England was for the English" He said that there were other places that were available to be purchased for the Jews, A spot in Argentina was one of those places.

At the time about the most respected Jewish thinker in the world was Martin Buber and with a sense of urgency he responded to Gandhi. In an open letter he explained to Gandhi why it was necessary for the Jews to have a homeland in Palestine. In it he explained to Gandhi much of what it means for a land to be holy to a people. Also integral in the letter was the assurance that the intention was not to take the land away from the Arabs. As much as we all admire Gandhi I feel safe in saying that those who read the exchange would consider that Buber presented a more well thought out point of view. It was a highly publized exchange and the text is easy to find at libraries and on the Internet. It gives in theory at least what it means for a land to be holy.

More important though than theory were the people who treated it like it was holy. These are the little events that I think are so important. I have never been to Palestine or Israel and so I have no first hand accounts of how people behaved there but the Jews are an articulate bunch and so there are some good written accounts.

Some of it leaves me astounded in wonder. I have already given a small account of the life of Judah Magnes and how much living in Palestine meant to him and how much he gave of himself to see that it became a place for the jews to truly have a home. There are two other people I want to write about. Not so much for what they did for Palestine but rather what Palestine did for them. I can't help but feel it is a mark of love when you become changed by it.

A.D. Gordon was born in 1856 in Russia. His parents were religious and wealthy. The occupation that he assumed when he became an adult was that of managing large pieces of land. Well into his 50,s he left a life of relative ease and moved to Palestine where he spent the remainder of his life working on farms as a hired labourer. He wrote during this time. Other positions were offered to him such as teaching at the university but he felt it important that he remain in direct contact with the care of the land in Palestine and remained a hired labourer. His writings are interesting and in a way he was a bit like John Lennon in that he started imagining a world without religion. The care of what was holy was the only religion that he felt we needed. He spent about 18 years living this life and writing about it. The account shows an 18 years of a man being changed. There is another who was changed in a day.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslav (1772-1811) was the great-grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov who was the founder of the Hassidic movement. It was always a dream of his great grand-father to visit palestine but he never made it there. It came about that late in his life that Rabbi Nachman set out to do so. The story of this journey is of great interest to a lot of people. It was what happened when he got there that interests me. He was known as a great story teller and posessed an extremly sharp and profound mind. When he got to palestine for a while observers said that he became an idiot and this lasted for a short time until once again he was as sharp as ever. It was later explained that having arrived to set foot in Palestine had caused him to be born again and his looking like an idiot was really the outward appearence of one becoming a new born baby again. That is a pretty astounding account of what a piece of land can do to someone.

These people cause me to consider that along with the people who stole land were those who didn't. There were those who loved it and were santified by it.

In this tread it has been discussed who Leonard is addressing when he says "the land isn't yours" Can it not be equally discussed who he might not be addressing. He seems like a decent guy to me and I would find it hard to imagine that he would stand at the doorway of some Polish Jewish family who worked all their lives farming and caring for those they love and say to them "none of these lands is yours, all of you are thieves of holiness" Would he say it to his children if they happened to live on a piece of land? Did he say it to the people on Mount Baldy? Maybe it does belong to some and because of them it is also a gift to others. Its just the wrong people who are taking credit.
Jack

"they won't exchange the gift that you were meant to keep" l. cohen