The following is an excerpt from “Israel: Democracy, Race, Ethnicity, and More”
(Fragments #2).
by Rabbi Lindsey Healey-Pollack
We are bound
strings woven within and around one another—
a strand of Techelet, sky blue
to remind us of the heavens
to remind us of the commandments
a white thread,
and a thread of crimson.
A plaything batted in paws
the strands dance around one another
tangling yarn, choking hope in amusement.
one slash of a claw
at any moment,
could snap any or all of them apart.
I gingerly lift a loose end
the knot tightens. What have I done?
If only I could unravel just so
without breaking, releasing the binding
lovely threads seen for what they are
not one hard knot
but singular stories.
LINDSEY HEALEY-POLLACK is a rabbi, educator, and writer. She serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Kol HaNeshamah in Englewood, NJ and coordinates the Introduction to Judaism program at Town and Village Synagogue in New York. Lindsey shares her writing and teaching via her Substack newsletter, The Emergent Torah
