Act 3: of One.

Emily Stern. The Broken Tablets: LEAH. 2010

ACT 3:
HALACH: AL ERETZ KEDEM,
              THIS IS BIGGER
              THAN SOMETHING
              YOU CANNOT HAVE.
              THE SPIRIT OF
              THIS LAND
              GIVES HER
              DISSERTATION
              ON THE
              PHILOSOPHY OF
              HOPE.
LEAH:      ALL I WANT
              IS MY
              COURSEWORK
              DESIGNED
              BY THE ONE
              FOR MY
              HIGHEST
              GROWTH.
HALACH: SHE HAS LEARNED
              TO TRUST
              THE SEEDS.
              AND FROM
              THAT ALL
              MY GRAVITY
              PULLS THE EARTH
              IN LOVE
              ALL THE PARTS
              THAT ARE
              BUOYANT
              LET “LETS GO” BE.
LEAH:     I WOULD LIKE
              THE WORLD
              TO JUST
              BE ALIVE,
            TO BE LIKE . . . 
JACOB:    GATHER STONES
              ALL AROUND.
            WE PARTOOK,
                MADE A MOUND
    THE FLOWERS
                    TOLD STORIES
      TO MY PORES.
                    I STORED THEM
                  ON OUR TRAVELS
AND WHEN OFF
                THE ROAD, I TOLD
                THE BIRDS.
AND EVERYTHING
                IS BUZZING WITH
                ALIVENESS.
SO MUST I BE TOO?
LEAH: MAY HASHEM WALK
                BETWEEN YOU AND ME
WHEN WE’RE OUT
                OF EACH OTHER’S SIGHT.
I’D LIKE TO BE FEELING THIS,
                JUST AS I’M FEELING THIS
SO IT MUST BE ALL RIGHT.
IF I LIKE WHAT I AM
AND I SEE YOU IN ME.
                I LIKE WHAT YOU ARE.
I LIKE WHAT I SEE.
                IF I AM WHAT I AM
AND IT’S ALL MEANT TO BE,
I WELCOME FOREVER,
                THE WHOLE WORLD
HOWEVER, JUST AS
                SHE COMES TO ME.
JACOB: WITHOUT CHANGING THIS EXPRESSION
TO BE MORE LIKE THE WAY
                I’VE KNOWN HER
WHAT IS OUR CONNECTION
WITHOUT GETTING ANY CLOSER?
LEAH: I DO NOT ANSWER.
                I DO NOT CHANGE MY FACE.
I DO NOT SPEAK A WORD.
                YOU KNOW
                I HAVE HEARD.
                AND OUR LOVE
                GREW DEEPER
WIDER, FULLER, TALLER, HIGHER
                BUT JUST TO KNOW—
I BECAME THE KIND OF TREE
WHO HAD A CLOUD ON TOP
INSTEAD OF LEAVES,
                DOWN IN THE FACE OF CAN I ?
I HAVE BORNE OUT MY SOUL
                BEFORE THE WORLD.

HALACH:       DIDN’T YOU HAVE FAITH
                EVERY STEP OF THE WAY?

*********

The matriarchs and pratriarchs are buried together, albeit Rachel. Says Jacob, “I am to be gathered unto my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field.” (Gen.49:29) “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife.  and there I buried Leah.” (Gen. 49:31, JPS translation) However he speaks of Rachel, “and i buried her there on the road to Ephrath” (Gen. 48:7) Therefore, In this play, HALACH, is a representation of RACHEL, as well as the walk or journey of the nations. (aka The Seeds.)

This is a poetic exploration
told in 3 acts
of contraction and expansion,
searching and questioning,
praying, of breaking,
being on the land as a person of faith,
this seeing of the stars in the sky,
the seeds in the ground,
the glass that breaks at weddings,
The tablets that shatter in the sand
The birth that exists here,
and most of all hope. 
It is told through our matriarchs and partriarchs
to show the continuation of our lineage
interwoven with the living Torah of guidance.