What do you reckon
Our lives are worth?
What do we attain
In our brief stay on earth?
All has been given
To man’s control,
To evince the permanence
He feels in his soul.
Monuments, palaces,
Buildings endowed,
Bear witness
To an existence
Of which he’s proud.
Man’s presence in the world
Solidified,
But what will endure
Time and tide?
The Beis HaMikdash
Built by King Solomon
Lit Israel up
Like a shining sun.
Kings came,
Paying homage,
Nations offered tribute
Its glory a zenith;
Absolute
When Hashem’s Shechinah
Departed,
Its majesty was gone,
It fell to the conquest
Of Babylon.
The Second Temple
Was built by Herod,
Being granted by King Cyrus;
Its foundation was flawed,
Never saw the Shechinah,
Never held the Luchos,
Its corruption saw no antidote,
Injustice took over,
Iniquity a syndrome,
Prophets’ warnings
Disregarded,
The Second Temple
Fell to Rome.
Though the First and Second Temple’s
Treasures were immense,
Forsaking Hashem’s rule
Left them without defense;
Couldn’t be saved by the wealth
Their craftsmanship employed,
Both fell into enemy hands
And were destroyed.
By comparison,
The Tabernacle’s
Gold and silver
Were insignificant,
But their righteousness
Made them permanent.
They were never captured,
Remain timeless and intact;
One day HaKadosh Baruch Hu
Will bring the Mishkan back.
How can anything
Have permanence
When man is so absorbed
In the present tense?
Our blessings and reckonings
Do not actually exist;
Neither we
Nor our possessions last,
But we know this:
Of all we create
What is eternal, what is true,
Is a place in our world
For HaKadosh Baruch Hu;
For the Lord hath chosen Zion
He hath desired it for His habitation
To dwell among us,
Bestowing blessing
Upon His Chosen Nation.
By Sharon Marcus
