written with gratitude and respect for this United States, my home, and for my good countrymen and neighbors with whom I share this land....
on this friday sabbath eve in the Year 5784 my Heart is in the east while in the West advent calendars are on Sale in aisle Nine as the salvation Army man dully rings his bell by the entrance as my eyes Scan the phone endlessly as Green wreaths with dripping Red bows line the Windows as rudolph plays as my hands Tremble as the Market is teeming with smiling Shoppers as i feel Tears drip hot as the first Hostages are released as i Stand stone-Faced as a well Meaning clerk asks me if i am christmas Shopping as i picture these words now i finally understand in my 67th Year yehudah halevy’s Words as our Nation suffers mightily as my Heart is in the east even as I stand here in this Bustling market surrounded by the west.
My Heart is in the East by Yehudah Halevi
My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west–
How can I find savor in food? How shall it be sweet to me?
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet
Zion lies beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains?
A light thing would it seem to me to leave all the good things of Spain–
Seeing how precious in mine eyes to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.
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