By Yossi Huttler
(on the occasion of my bechor’s bar mitzvah)
your February bar mitzvah
like every bar mitzvah
took place on the first day
of Succos
when we take matter into our hands
four species of accountability
our hearts and our eyes
backbone and lips
when sin now counts
and is counted
and, with teshuvah me’ahava,
recounted
on Yom HaDin
next year
next world
as zechus
Yossi Huttler, who lives in Los Angeles, is the author of Lakol Z’man: A Poetical Journey Through The Jewish Year. Mr. Huttler’s poems and essays have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Daily Forward, the Jewish Observer, and other publications.
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