Tzipiyah.com

I sat on a bus, saw three children play.
A girl and two boys, and a few seconds’ glance told me
they were not one of ours.
I watched as they played, running up and down,
and was disturbed by their game.
Slap, smack, hit to the head;
in fun and with laughter, but the violence struck me.

The boy was clever,
and used sharp tricks to
manage to smack his sister in different ways.
There were no tears,
and the little girl laughed and laughed;
I shared in a little of her laughter when she looked my way,
although I was gravened by the
clear innate violence…
Smack, slap, steal her sweet away,
steal her hair ribbon, with the humour of a child,
and the inventiveness of a clever little boy,
which I couldn’t help but smile at;
yet with the cruelty of a soul darkened with only scarce mercy.

I was a turmoil of
love for children
and repulsion and fear of the violence and cruelty
that sits deeply in the hearts of those
who live around and among us so.

* * *

Another day, I sat in a shop,
eating a meal, watching what went on around me.
An Arab man, working in the kitchen,
helping with the hard work.

And then I heard him talking in broken Hebrew to his Jewish co-worker,
asking him about going to the Beit HaKnesset:
You go twice a day? Every day?
Yes, Every day, twice a day, I go there.

In the churnings and turnings of my mind,
grappling to understand this man and his people,
I became aware of what he had asked the Jew:
Pray for me. Pray for me when you are there.

And he meant it.
The Jewish man didn’t take him so seriously,
but I saw that the Arab’s request was earnest.
An unskilled pretender will not go so far to impress:
this was real.
He believed in the power of the Jew’s prayer,
he believed in the holiness of the Jew.

* * *

What to make of this?
What is the trend, the principle,
the rule?
Whom can you trust? What would he do to a Jew, given a chance?
What would she do with the jangly keys of a bulldozer?
What would they do with a gun or a car?

Save us from the hand of cruel hatred;
and save us from the cruel kindness to those that would kill us;
shelter the truly good-hearted from their surrounders of hatred,
help us to defeat this army of ones and twos,
of souls gone sour with their hate,
of children raised with
violence and withered mercy.

———-
First picture from here.
Second picture from here.