עַ֤ד שֶׁיָּפ֙וּחַ֙ הַיּ֔וֹם וְנָ֖סוּ הַצְּלָלִ֑ים סֹב֩ דְּמֵה־לְךָ֨ דוֹדִ֜י לִצְבִ֗י א֛וֹ לְעֹ֥פֶר הָאַיָּלִ֖ים עַל־הָ֥רֵי בָֽתֶר׃ (ס) When the day blows out gently And the shadows flee, Turn about, my beloved and be as a gazelle or a fawn on the hills of spices! Song of Songs is spring in glorious, full and sweeping poetry. It is an explosion of pent up energy, of longing, flowering, growth and life pulsating in full color. This heady mix is framed as a romance and often understood as a spiritual allegory. The beloved, in this extended poem, is compared to a צְבִ֗י א֛וֹ לְעֹ֥פֶר הָאַיָּלִ֖ים. [...]

בְּנ֥וּ בָתִּ֖ים וְשֵׁ֑בוּ וְנִטְע֣וּ גַנּ֔וֹת וְאִכְל֖וּ אֶת־פִּרְיָֽן׃ Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit. Jeremiah 29:5 When the prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the people of Judea, newly exiled to Babylonia, he did not encourage them by promising a rapid return to their homeland. He did not tell them to fight to return, to lobby their new government, or even to pray for a miracle. Instead, he told them to do what probably seemed impossible, to accept their fate and to move on, for this generation, and yes, the next one too. Do [...]

אַתָּ֣ה הִ֭צַּבְתָּ כָּל־גְּבוּל֣וֹת אָ֑רֶץ קַ֥יִץ וָ֝חֹ֗רֶף אַתָּ֥ה יְצַרְתָּם׃ You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter—You made them. Psalms 74:17 The glory of the sun in winter. It can transform what seemed like brown uniformity into a tapestry of gold, bronze and silver grey. On a beautiful winter day, I spent an afternoon at Brookside Gardens where all the gems of winter were on display. Winter beauty is quite different from that of the three other seasons. Its colors are muted, a minimalist palette of desaturated warmth where moments of light or color take on a [...]