The Man Who Would be Israel – A poem for Parsha Toldot (Aliyah 6)

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When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out a great and bitter cry, and he said to his father, "Bless me too, O my father!"

Esau – still full from the
memory of the stew

realizes he’s lost it all –
birthright, inheritance, blessing.

Stolen by his own brother –
The man who would be Israel.

Some of the people
roaming the college campuses

in our terrible century
tell us we’re still lying.

That the whole thing has
been a great deception.

Poor Esau
Just wants what’s his.

A little validation
from his father

A mother who doesn’t
sell him out.

No one feels good
about where this has gone

Not today, anyway
Not with so much death and rubble.

This was never the poem
I wanted to write.

These poems are offered free for your enjoyment. If you use them as part of an event, meeting, educational or liturgical setting, please consider tipping the author.

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