Respect
“Keep these matters in mind, Ya’akov,
for you, Isra’el, are my servant.
I formed you, you are my own servant;
Isra’el, don’t forget me.
Like a thick cloud, I wipe away your offenses;
Like a cloud, your sins.
Come back to me, for I have redeemed you.”
Here is what ADONAI says, your Redeemer,
He who formed you in the womb:
“I am ADONAI, who makes all things…”
(Isaiah 44: 21,22,24)
Respect
I saw your unborn life, still so tender…
so preciously woven, without a hand;
beautiful and lovely, not yet thumb-marked.
I looked at you with respect.
You were born without interference…
for I made you be born, Israel…
Even before there was any human help…
I was already there for you.
You were so tiny, too small in fact.
But I saw you and looked at you…
with great respect.
When you cried and dirtied yourself…
you just had to get used to …
nobody coming to you.
Out of ignorance and self-interest…
you didn’t gain any respect
from the people around you.
But I saw you
and didn’t forget you.
Come, you who are uncomforted
and receive some respect.
For I will lay your stones…
as rubies.
You grew up…
but no-one really saw you…
with respect.
You sought and struggled to find your way
with lack of respect.
Neither did you receive it,
nor did you give it.
You, one who has been driven on…
but I saw you…
I taught you, guided you,
showed you life as it is:
respectless, boundless, thumb-marked.
But I led you to a way that is higher.
I gave you prospects
to get used to respect:
to yourself at first…
I had been doing that already,
though you were still struggling
for respect… your right!
How can you give what you haven’t received?
No! Not from humans, but you did.. from me!
It’s your turn now!
Know this: I was hanging there for you, too!
Thumb-marked, denied and discarded…
without any respect.
You cannot get away with this
where you yourself are not giving.
Your right is crooked, so come!
I give respect…you do the same!
Restore me, Adonai and weave me
full… of Your respect
for You and all of Your works…
the other… whoever this may be,
I myself as Your loved one…
respect to measure, for everything You give
and everything that lives.
Thank you, Adonai, for Your respect!
So undeserved, so unknown, so real.
I will do as You did
It stirred me: I know it is for you too!