{"id":50423,"date":"2019-08-16T09:20:29","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=50423"},"modified":"2019-08-16T09:20:29","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:20:29","slug":"off-the-pulpit-only-god-my-dear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-only-god-my-dear\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Only God, My Dear"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

\u201cMy beloved is radiant\u2026 the winter is passed.\u201d So does the Song of Songs, Judaism\u2019s preeminent poem of passion, speak about the warmth and glow of the one who is loved. Such similes endure throughout the ages. Shakespeare asks if he shall compare his love to a summer\u2019s day. Leonard Cohen asks, \u201cWith Annie gone, whose eyes to compare with the morning sun?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Human love is enhanced by what we see, feel and imagine. God\u2019s love transcends the material, a contrast most beautifully expressed by Yeats in his poem \u201cFor Anne Gregory:\u201d<\/p>\n

‘I heard an old religious man
\nBut yesternight declare
\nThat he had found a text to prove
\nThat only God, my dear,
\nCould love you for yourself alone
\nAnd not your yellow hair.’<\/p>\n

(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Share