This week's parsha lays out for us a vision of a powerful communal ceremony of the laying on of hands: “Assemble the whole Israelite community, and bring the Levites forward before the Lord. Let the Israelites lay their hands upon the Levites, and let Aaron designate the Levites before the Lord as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may perform the service of the Lord. The Levites will then lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls…to make expiation for the Levites.” (Leviticus, 8:10 – 8:12) In an age where body-based wisdom and healing is finally becoming more widely respected, it is particularly wonderful to read these Biblical passages about the transformative power of touch. The root verb for this laying of hands is's-m-k' – סמכ…the root of the word 'smicha' – which is the ritual of Rabbinic ordination. Ideally smicha connotes that, instead of just bestowing a paper diploma, there is an actual transference of energy that takes place as one takes on that communal role of becoming a Rabbi, a leader and teacher. Tragically, it is said that the secret to this 'energy transference' has been lost and so is not practiced anymore. How can we as a society and as a religion get back “in touch” with the more body-oriented mystically-informed truths of our tradition? This is a poem calling for such a reorientation towards sacred embodiment, where our prayers and our palms meet, creating healing and transformation. To Place a Palm Imagine the intention To place a palm upon a person And with that touch Turn them to priest ...or priestess? And an entire nation of people Gathered for that purpose It's a certain kind of physics We have yet to formulate These ancient scrolls are hardly data hard and dictum in the marble halls of man but they hold a certain kind of certainty for those who understand for those who read reality upon a scroll of skin * Symbol won't suffice For my sort of sacrifice When I lay my hand upon your sleeve I want the land to heave With energy I want light to more than metaphor But move and make a world Where emotion is a motion that endures I want tongue To make a waterway of change I want prostration to move mountains Purge pollution pacify pain I want a photosynthesis of feeling That leans towards the sun I want a poem To page The powerful And watch them stand and run I want prayer To speak explosives to silence every gun So let us place our palms with purpose and let forgiveness lace our thumbs
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)