Thursday, March 7, 2019

In the Heart - Bilvavee

בלבבי

בלבבי משכן אבנה להדר כבודו
ובמשכן מזבח אקים לקרני הודו
ולנר תמיד אקח לי את אש העקידה
ולקרבן אקריב לו את נפשי היחידה

יצחק הוטנר

My translation of the above, a beautiful 19th century devotional poem by Yitzchok Hutner:

In my heart I will make a sanctuary
to amplify the beauty of His glorious presence
and in this sanctury I will place an alter
to catch the rays of His magnificence
and as an eternal light I will take the fire
from the binding of Isaac up on the hill
and then, as a sacrifice, I will surrender up
my false sense of self as a unique seperate person
in order that He and I and Now
may be revealed
as one
__________________
"To die every moment into love"
Byron Katie
__________________

Poem Without an End

Inside the brand-new museum
there’s an old synagogue.
Inside the synagogue
is me.
Inside me
my heart.
Inside my heart
a museum.
Inside the museum
a synagogue,
inside it
me,
inside me
my heart,
inside my heart
a museum

by Yehuda Amichai
translated by Chana Bloch
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"Freedom is never of the person but from the person"
Nisargadatta Maharaj

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