So often God called upon Moses – / Three times they met; / first at  the flaming bush, / then on Sinai amidst rock and stone,  / and finally before the Tent of Meeting,  / that Moses might intuit God’s mind / and soothe God’s broken heart / as a lover brings comfort to her beloved.

Since creation / God yearned to bridge the chasm / formed when the Creator pulled away / to open space for the universe.

Alone – exiled within the Divine Self / The holy Name, YHVH, / was divided from Itself as well / when the vessels holding the light shattered / and matter was flung to the far reaches of the universe – / the upper spheres were divorced from the lower, / male from female, / the primal Father from the Mother, / Tiferet from Malchut, / Hakadosh Baruch Hu from Sh’chinah, / Adonai from K’nesset Yisrael.

God yearned to restore what was once whole, / And not remain alone.

Before time and speech / and earth hurled into space / God appointed the soul of the Shepherd-Prince Moses as prophet / and endowed him with hearing-sight / and intuitive-wisdom / and integrated-knowledge.

No one but Moses / came so near to God / for all the rest of humankind / has inadequate vision and understanding.

Moses alone saw with his ears / and heard with his eyes / and tasted with his mind / to withstand the Light.

The prophet descended from Sinai aglow, / the primordial Light shielded through a veil / with divine ink-drops touched to his forehead  / radiating everywhere  / and illuminating the earth’s four corners.

Moses descended as if upon angel’s wings, / weightless cradling the stone tablets / in the eye of raging winds.

Despite his soaring soul, / the prophet was the aleph of Vayikra / most modest of all the letters / unheard – only seen, / to be known internally, intuitively, / as the most humble of anyone / ever to walk the earth.

Though Moses appeared as a Prince in Egypt / his destiny was to be a lonely shepherd / to gather his sheep and God’s people / to draw them by example / nearer to God.

There was so much God needed from Moses – / to bring the plagues / to overpower Pharaoh, / to liberate the people and lead them to Sinai, / to commune with God and pass along the Word, / to construct the Tabernacle and create a home for God / that divinity / might dwell within every Israelite heart  / and thereby comfort God from loneliness.

After all God’s expectations and demands /we might expect Moses’ strength to be depleted, / that he would be exhausted to the bone / and ready to say; / “Enough! O Redeemer – find a new prophet!  / I can no longer bear the burden / and be Your voice and create bridges! / You are Almighty God! / I am but flesh!  / My strength is gone! / My time expired!”

“Nonsense!” proclaimed the YHVH. / “I am not yet ready for your retirement! / My world remains shattered, / My light obscured, / My heart still broken and aching? / I need you to teach My people / and instill in their hearts / a deep love that may heal My wound. / for I cannot do this for Myself.”

Alas, the Creator-Redeemer’s needs were clear – / to be close, so very close to Moses / that the prophet and Israel together / might wipe away God’s tears / and restore God’s heart  / and heal God’s Name.