Rishon LeCheshbon

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.