#25 Sav  (Maqam Nawa)

Maqam - a set of notes, with traditions that define the relationship between them, their patterns and expression.  A musical mode.  The Maqamat (plural) are patient, inwardly drawn, they are roomy enough for poetry. We worked the concept of the give-and-take between poetry and music.

Small Alef Poetry [Tzav]

Lift up the remains of yesterday

put them next to the holy altar

the fire shall not go out

we long for a pure act of worship.        

The fire burning throughout

the camp moving

the altar traveling                

we long for a pure act of worship.

The offering burnt

nothing of the offering remains 

ashes

nothing of it can be eaten or sold or turned into anything else

[we long for a pure act of worship] –

Except for the hides

we might make a nice jacket out of the hides

be ruthlessly precise

in the mystery ways,

the future depends on it –                 

we long for a pure act of worship.

 Sefat Emet on Tzav,

Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 4:6,  Kiddushin 29a