Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

The tone and mood for my High Holy Days introspection was set up and tuned to the poem Susanne Batzdorff recited at the very beginning of the first (Erev) Rosh Hashanah service. As I learned later she not just read, but also wrote the poem. Susanne graciously agreed to share it on the library blog. There are no better words to wish you a meaningful fast for Yom Kippur than hers.

I AM WHAT I AM. P. 73 (By Susanne Batzdorff)

I do not visualize G’d
In royal robes, seated
Upon a throne. That image
Resembles human kings and princes.

I do not think we ought to
Create G’d in our own image,
with human features, human foibles,
A being such as we might meet
On a mountain trail,
Or on a bus or train.
Nor do I relate very well
To the concept of a belligerent G’d,
Angry and jealous,
Hungry for praise or prayer,
Disappointed if we don’t flatter
Or fawn upon Him,

I seek a G’d that does not resemble people,
A G’d that is stillness, power,
Love, compassion, concern.
I don’t expect G’d to show me His face.
People have faces, not G’d.

G’d cannot speak to me; he has
No human voice. But I sense G’d sometimes
In the silence, the warmth, the joy,
G’d speaks to me in the still, small voice within.
He is in my every heartbeat or breath,
In the tear, in anguish, in laughter.

G’d is neither you nor I,
Nor looks like you or me.
When we have grasped this truth,
We need no longer worry
About calling G’d “He” or “She.”

For G’d is faceless, soundless
And quite beyond our poor,
Puny power to define Him,
Beyond imagination on the human scale.
Yes, we recognize this. And yet
There are times when we simply must
Talk to G’d and beg Him to answer.

G’mar chatimah tova!