The Lovers Cry on Kol Nidre

I was connected from the onset, 
At the service on Kol Nidre.
From the opening words,the cantors' operatic voice, 
The choir, the piano, the cello. 
The community of so many tallit in prayer and song, 
Hearts beat as the fists gently pound. 
Three Torahs dressed in white held in unison, on the Bimah, 
Reminding us from where we came. 
A sermon so deep-the Jewish-Arab indigenousness talk,
The potential for co-building that dream,
A spiritual approach to hope that is Israel. 
They all held me. 

Arriving from the first spoken words as
I moved into greater vulnerability,
Bowing and crying while standing
Bowing and crying while sitting
Praying, crying, praying, crying, 
The lover's cry rose from within me. 
All night, the tears would not stop. 

Those tears were not of past angst, pain, or shame,
Not of happiness or joy, nor about war. 
They are of something else, 
That has no words to speak. 

What is this ocean of 
Surrender - 
This vulnerability 
Inside our hearts, 
What is this lovers cry
We all have inside 

© Todd Greenberg 10/26/24