Friday, Mar 29, 2024

The Fortress

Somewhere in the heart of town There is a sukkah standing The story of its legacy Forever is expanding It's not been used for centuries Its s'chach is dried and brittle Its wooden walls are scarred with marks Of tales one tried to whittle

The story of that sukkah

Indeed is legendary

And mostly all the older folks

Say it’s imaginary

 

Yet everyone who passes it

Is filled with Jewish pride

But no one for a century

Has dared to step inside

 

The legend as they tell it

Goes back so many years

When Jews in that old shtetel

Had lived entrenched in fears

The Cossacks they were coming

Or was it the Crusades?

Perhaps it was the Communists

Or maybe Nazi raids

They chased Jews through the forest

From their tiny shtut

They ran until they found refuge

Inside the sukkah hut

And then they were surrounded

The fiends beat on the door

But no it would not open

They pounded more and more

The Yidden, they were petrified

All huddled inside

Indeed they were surrounded

They had no place to hide

And suddenly among them

A man said, “Don’t be glum”

He threw some sand like arrows

Just as Avrohom

Then our father Yitzchok

His eyes pierced through the cracks

And suddenly the enemies

In fear ceased their attacks

And Yaakov lifted his large stick

That split Yardein in two

And when the Cossacks saw it

They ran from that old Jew

And Moshe, Aharon, Shlomo

Embraced those who were there

“My children, we’re your humble guests

You have nothing to fear”

And Dovid raised his slingshot

That smote the Philistine

The enemies they scattered

And never were they seen

I know it sounds amazing

You think it is not true

But that’s the story that I heard

From a very ancient Jew

Somehow we defied them

In that sukkah oh so frail

That seems so awfully vulnerable

At least so goes the tale

But it is not a fable

Indeed the tale is true

Ushpizin, I know, are more than guests

They’re here for every Jew

For they’re inside

Protecting us

Our special holy guests

Who stand by to support us

From life’s demanding tests

So glean your strength from Avrohom

And all who come to stay

Inside our holy sukkos

On every night and day

As for the sukkah of the tale

I’m not sure if it’s true

But that they’re there

Within those walls

Believe it! Yes, I do!

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