Yotzer Or

What does it mean to wait for God's light?

What can this text teach us in current moments of anxiety and/or fear?

Let Your Voice Be Heard

From "The Spectacular Difference," a book of Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky's poetry, compiled and translated by Marcia Falk.

A troubling thought

held my spirit in its palm

all night long

and I couldn't sleep--

its fingernails tore the images

of my dreams

and I drowned in the space

between the pits

and the world.

Like a soul mate that the heart

has despaired of ever seeing again

in the lands of the living,

the morning appeared.

Welcome, welcome,

angel of redemption!

And how the sick wait for the sunrise

as they turn from one side of pain

to the other,

and she, too, who moistens

the patient's scorched lips

in the dark,

her heart filled with fear.

And see, the sun exists--

here, here--

and a world

exists.

The houses are already marked

with gold.

Let your voice be heard,

beloved blessings of the dawn,

in the midst of the radiance

let your deep voice be heard.

Soon the radiance with turn

into a devouring fire

and thin hope will be consumed.

But perhaps, the soul will respond

to the "Comfort ye, comfort ye"

of the evening winds.

The prayer is an adaptation of Isaiah 45:7, whose author was active during the Babylonian exile and was steeped in a culture of Persian dualism, which posited that there were two opposing spiritual forces in the world, not just one. The Bible scholar Marc Brettler explains that Yotzer Or is a polemic that emphasizes Jewish monotheism and the contention that a single God must be responsible for both good and evil...

While the historical debates between Persian dualists and Jewish prophets may have come to an end, the lessons of Yotzer Or remain with us. We still very much live in an age that requires us to resist facile narratives and false promises of purity. This prayer reminds us of a God that won’t let us off easy, and requires us to be in authentic relationship with a creator who won’t always make us happy. The trueness of our relationship comes with, and because of, the trouble; our faithfulness will always require a holistic engagement with the totality of the divine, and with of each of God’s creations.

- https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-to-remain-true-to-god-and-each-other/

Does this lesson from Yotzeir Or resonate with you?