Friday, January 19, 2007

442. Insects and pestilence

Oy, it's been a week. So I'm setting this Shabbat apart from other, ordinary days by writing, which always brings me peace and calm. (In my practice, the spirit of the law trumps the letter.)

As a final footnote to my foul mood, tomorrow morning I'm chanting twenty verses about insects and pestilence. This includes one of my favorite lines, which I've proclaimed on many stages in the context of folksy choral arrangements of gospel classics: "Shalah ami veya'avduni." I'm thrilled to sing "Let my people go!" in its original language, including the oft-overlooked "...so that they may worship Me" part. (I'm tempted to make it into a T-shirt, with a blank line in place of the "ami." Fill in your favorite form of oppression: Let my freedom go. Let my privacy go. Let my right to choose go. And so forth.)

Meanwhile, hurrah...it's Shabbat! And not a moment too soon.

2 comments:

Regina said...

I was just beginning to wonder how you were, too...
Hey, I'll take one of those t-shirts- how about "Let my peace of mind go!"
Hope Shabbat was more than restful for you, aa...

alto artist said...

Thank you both....i had a very restful Shabbat, just what I needed. (As was the reminder that, yes, it will always appear, no matter how lousy my week was!)

Rachel, I would love to read about why you choose to write on Shabbat--although I completely understand your reluctance to post about it. (But I still hope you will, one day.)

Shavua, tov, as well--

--aa.