poem: alana hayes
The Bride's ברכות
(Dedicated to Rachel Zupnick)
It is said that on the wedding day
the Bride's power of prayer
surpasses that of even the holiest of men,
which was news to me.
I know I've been doing this Jewish thing for awhile now,
like my whole life actually,
but I'm always learning new things about it. Which is great!
So when I went to my first wedding in Israel,
and the Bride came out before the ceremony
to sit amongst the guests and bestow upon them her blessings,
I got in line
partly because the Bride was one of the few people I knew at this whole shindig,
and I wanted a familiar face to say hi! to,
and partly because I wanted to get the full Jewish-Israeli wedding experience.
Tell me something, who wouldn’t want to be blessed by an all powerful woman?
For a day she gets to be the ultimate wish granting machine, even for herself,
who, by tradition, has a direct line to the ear of god-
-surpassing all others!
She’s like a genie. Only better. Because she’s a Jewish Woman
who’s blessings are limited only by the day, not by the number,
and who doesn’t have to wait in a lamp for someone to call upon her-
-She does the calling. I am here by Her invitation afterall.
And when it was my turn in line I gave her a hug and told her I had no idea how this worked
because I’ve never done it before,
so she explained to me that all I have to do is tell her about something going on in my life,
something I might need a prayer for.
That if I want help with it I should speak it and she would fill in the gaps as needed.
And after she explained this I still wasn’t sure what I needed a prayer for,
but I thought I should start off by letting my friend know
that I would be leaving the country soon-
-kind of unexpectedly,
and even though I didn’t say that I wasn’t sure I was ready to go,
or that I was scared about what might get lost on the way home,
that’s what she addressed her prayers to.
It was like maybe she could see it in my eyes, or on my face, as I told her,
or maybe she had also been granted the power to read minds for the day.
Somehow she just knew it was exactly what I needed her to say.
So she prayed that things don’t get lost in the move,
and not just physical things like books and clothes and shoes,
though she prayed for them too,
but also for the person I’ve become,
the things I’ve learned,
and the connections I’ve made here.
Because, sometimes, in a new place, when you start over,
you lose old pieces of yourself,
and, sometimes, in an old place, when you start over,
the things you worked hard to rid yourself of and overcome,
they come roaring back to life.
So for a moment she and I prayed that along with not losing any of my luggage,
that the person I’ve become doesn’t open the emergency exit-
-and dive out of the plane, abandoning me mid-flight.
And when we were done I looked at my friend and felt a little more certain
that this person, who I’m so very desperate to hang on to
would not get lost somewhere over the ocean,
would not dive right into the water and start swimming back to Israel
the moment I touched ground in America,
would not follow me all the way to the airport in Tel Aviv
only to wave goodbye the moment I boarded the plane.
That even though she had been born somewhere in my travels
from the Golan Heights to Eilat, from Egypt to Jordan, and everything in between,
that she was ready to start over in a new place, and fight to survive there.
Then I thanked my friend and told her how beautiful she looked in her dress,
how honored I felt to be included in a day that was so incredibly important to her,
and wished for her all the happiness she could possibly stand having,
and, I mean, of course, I brought a gift.
But, outside of that, what more could I possibly give to an all powerful woman,
on a day where she is literally everything?
And as I walked away I wondered why anyone would ever waste their time
wishing for genies to be real,
or waiting for santa claus to come out of hibernation at christmas
when all any of us ever really need to do
is go find a Jewish Woman on her wedding day.
about the author: alana hayes
you can learn more about the author here.
