Thursday, May 22, 2025

Bereft

I sit here stunned And still in shock Torah, Torah Chigri sak

In just three weeks

A world is gone

What can we think?

Reflect upon?

 

Three great lives

Who bridged the span

Of worlds that cry

Greatness of man

 

We lost the worlds of Torah

Rav Shimon, Rav Shlomo

We lost a world

That once was Telshe

A century ago

 

The sweetness and the holiness

The drive, the zest, the yearn

Spanning continents we lost

From Cleveland to Lucerne

 

And woe to Eretz Yisroel

A leading light is gone

The wisdom that a nation gleaned

And laid their eyes upon

 

And though not young

In fact quite old

A century or more

No boundaries would

These great men set

To those who would implore

 

They streamed to them

From the whole world

Each with a special plead

And leave in comfort

Knowing that

These men would intercede

 

No sickness, pain would stop them

Their spirits young at heart

They made each talmid feel so close

Though centuries apart

 

The ziknei am

Are leaving us

And we stand silent, numb

Where are the lights

To lead us now?

Where will they now come from?

 

Who will remember Grodno?

Who will remember Telshe?

Who will link to Volozhin?

As tears in our eyes wells

 

And those of us

Who once did stand

In shadows of their shine

Must now become

A sacred link

Continuing the line

 

We all can shrug our shoulders

Oh what great men these were

But I am I

And you are you

And say we all defer

 

I sadly beg to differ

For all the world has lost

And we must now

Regroup, rebuild

Whatever is the cost

 

So read all the hespeidim

And glean what you can do

Do fill a speck of the great void

The least that we can do

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