Shattered Glass & Broken Dreams - Poem

 I write this on Wednesday, the day before the fast for the 17th of Taamuz. It is this day, that, all those years ago, began the chapter of our history when our holy Beis HaMikdash was destroyed. This chapter begins on that day in Taamuz and ends on Tisha B'av when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed and the Jewish People began the journey through exile.

As the minutes tick on by, I want to share with you all a poem I wrote about the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. Titled "Shattered Glass & Broken Dreams" it looks back at the knowledge of the way things were before exile, than it notes, quite extensively, the pain and brutality of the exile before ending with the sincere hope that soon the day of joy and redemption will come.

May it be, indeed, very soon.

Have an amazing week ahead!

Yitzy Schweitzer

Shattered Glass & Broken Dreams - Poem
All those years ago, we lived in our land,
We were in our home, with the wisest of man,
Prophetic vision, clarity, natural wonder,
G-ds voice, his nation, through sunshine and thunder.

But one day, the storm was so strong,
Our hearts were torn, taunted was our song,
Into a land where we were strangers and foes,
At the nation's mercy, lost and alone.

And every year we think back,
Try to picture our home of old,
Try to conjure up the majesty,
See, in our mind, the time that was gold.

But all we see,
Is shattered glass and broken dreams,
Gold that no longer shines,
Those bricks for our holy temple,
Now crushed into dust, stone and pebble,
Can we ever return to those times?

Is it in vain, this feeling of hope?
Instead of inspiring, does it send us down a terrifying slope?
Is it worth it, to continue, when our hope turns into dust?
Tell me, how much longer, wait for nothing we must?

The thoughts of a oncoming dawn, are as real as they can be,
So, what more can we do, what more, tell me!
Why still, do the nations hate us, why are we still in the dark,
How many promises broken, for the revealing of the face behind the mask?

This year, we are going to think back,
Hoping to see our dream be realized,
No more hopes dashed and spirit crushed,
This one more time, is going to be the last.