Who established Democracy?
Were you taught
That it was
The ancient Greeks?
Long before, the facts belie,
Valid civil law came from Sinai;
Greek Democracy
Was incomplete
Pertaining only
To the elite.
The ancient man-made laws
Addressed
The privileged,
Leaving the rest
Oppressed,
Modern civic law
Merciful
To the merciless,
Serving justice
Even less.
Mishpatim expounds
Laws of society,
Infusing the mundane
With piety,
Every member given
Rights and dignity,
Slaves, women, and children
Across the board,
Precious children of the L-rd.
Our forefathers
Kept Hashem’s laws
Since way back when;
Why the Revelation
At Sinai, then?
Hashem first spoke as “Anochi”
Ana Nafshi Ketavis Yehavis
“I have written My Self
Into this Torah.”
Together with My children
In the fiery law,
Israel partners
In the master plan
To glorify the sons of man.
The laws of Sinai,
G-d-given, blessed –
Luminesced with holiness,
Hashem’s Authorship,
Prepense
To serve justice with mercy
Making all the difference.
The Torah, a divine gift,
A unique collective,
History and a narrative
Combined, a blueprint
On how to live
A life of balance,
Truth and justice;
All of man’s wisdom
Stems from this.
Fortunate are we
Who stood
At Sinai, the inception
Of our nationhood
Empowered to bring
The world great good,
To bring about Mashiach’s advent,
To draw heaven closer
With the earth’s ascent.
Remember Mount Sinai,
Its aspiration
A kingdom of priests
And a holy nation;
It is not asked of us
To achieve perfection,
But, we “signed the contract” –
May we keep the connection!
By Sharon Marcus
