The Shema
The things we possess
In turn come to possess us–
For lucrative careers, see golden handcuffs
And as the saying goes
If you own a restaurant
A restaurant owns you
But it’s not just material things–
I had a front row seat
As an otherwise decent person
Came to possess a hatred of Jews
Only to become possessed by that hatred
Attempting to rekindle the ovens
Only to see their own life engulfed in hellfire
Seated so close
I could easily have been swallowed by the flames
And probably would have
Had I not come to possess a love of Torah
Such that if they ever do succeed
In putting me in an oven
I will remain self-possessed
Which is to say
Possessed by the fear of God
Found in the love of His Torah
As you will know
By my last words in this world:
Hear, O Israel! God is our God, God is one.
