The Elevator
The door opens Seven times
Every 19 years
The elevator operator asks —
With whom
Would you like to learn
Today?
I will choose Bar Yochai
Or the prophet Elijah
Who taught the holy Ari
Or the holy Ari
Who learned with
Abraham Isaac and Jacob
Or Luzzatto the Italian
Who memorized all the teachings of the Ari
When Luzzatto was 14
Or the Baal Shem Tov
Who was tutored in secret by Baal Shems
Until he was 36
Or the 4th grade teacher who taught respect
And to create
Out of sadness
From the holy Ari
I will learn to read out
Foreheads and hands
To know faces
Especially when they
Change
From the Baal Shem Tov
How to listen –
And prescribe remedies
From Bar Yochai
How to occupy myself
With the needs of others
How to be a good student for my teachers
A good teacher
For my students
From the prophet Elijah
I will learn
Readiness Eagerness
From Abraham Isaac and Jacob I will learn
To Pray at different times of
Day
I might ask to spend a time
With the last of the
Jewish Sufis
He will teach me again
To be enchanted
By everything
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