this is dedicated to the maccabees of today:
the bold,
the beautiful,
and the brave
their roars echo
upon the high and the low
a call for meaning
forever yours.
this is for the fighters,
the doers,
the truth-seekers,
the renegades
whose message bellows from the mountain tops
or whisper into your soul —
don’t give up.
dare to dream.
i am here for you.
this is for that young woman, praying to meet her soulmate
looking for faith
and that young man, praying to keep his marriage alive
looking for faith.
who can hear their cry
as they battle
for love?
to that woman I met yesterday,
sweat on her brow, smile on her lips,
dragging bags of presents and a heart full of love
to the child of just six years old,
already old,
battling cancer —
a maccabee, himself.
this is for the little boy struggling in school —
he can’t sit still,
his hands don’t settle,
he tries to please everyone around him,
but it’s never enough.
this is for the single mother,
tired
broken
begging in her heart
for a little quiet
and help.
this is for the mailman
and the cashier lady,
the people in uniform
and the night-shift workers,
the garbage truck driver
and the delivery guy
who cradles your sushi
in the cold
while you look for your change.
to the nurse
and the doctor
the on-call hatzalah member
who look you in the eye
to heal.
the rebbes,
the teachers,
and school administrators,
the underpaid caregivers
who love
our children.
to those yeshiva boys in black and white
sticking their heads out of tanks, a-blazing
through a technicolor Times Square,
“excuse me are you Jewish?”
their battle cry.
this is for the unprotected children,
that little boy crying in his bed,
wondering when it will end
and that little girl fighting
to still trust the world
and this is for the ones who crusade
to protect them, our children,
valiant,
relentless,
unstoppable.
to the music makers,
the song singers,
the writers,
the artists,
creators
who reveal their souls
in pain
in joy
to connect.
to our fellow brothers and sisters in the Holy Land,
living with purpose and passion,
listen here:
the world doubts you,
wants to crush you,
but you hold strong,
fierce
day in, day out
on the edge
for truth.
our maccabees.
this is for the
activists
and advocates,
appointed angels
and heroes
slaying
our wars
to them, your fight is their fight
because it’s all
personal
brawling
the anti-yochus,
crushing
the anti-love,
the anti-truth,
the anti-will
of G-d.
for G-d.
this is a song for the
lamplighters,
mission-makers,
boundary-breakers,
and trailblazers
who strive
for unity,
for wholeness,
for vulnerability
and realness
every single day,
every day.
so today
i stand for you,
i call for you,
i will always need you,
our modern day
maccabees.
