Rabbi Nehorai to Acher In Heaven, I have heard, there is no sitting down, or telling jokes, or shedding tears— one life’s allotment lasts one all his years, then ducts run dry, mirth fades, prayer unremitting serves for an eternity or so. In Abram’s bosom, “Ha!” has been erased, desire and hate—such joys!—from the soul effaced. We must partake of these before we go. I’ve always hoped there will be time for study, that one might pass the long celestial season among the learned dead, debate the twists of the Law that, like blind pathways, seemed so muddy to mortal eyes, to finally clear the mists, and the final joy will rise from faith and reason.
Note: One of Rabbi Meir’s closest friends was the ostracized heretic Acher (“The Other”), with whom he would frequently debate scripture even as it risked his reputation to do so. Acher’s heresy may have sprung from a vision of a seated angel, contradicting the teaching that in Heaven there is no sitting down, as there is no weariness.
Daniel Galef‘s first book, Imaginary Sonnets (2023), is a collection of seventy persona poems, each a verse monologue exploring the point of view of a different historical figure, literary character, or inanimate object. Subjects include Saint Augustine, the moral philosopher John Taurek, and the woman who painted the fresco of Christ in Borja, Spain. The book is available now from Word Galaxy/Able Muse Press.
Amethyst Review 