The Torah In Haiku: Eikev
August 9, 2012 
1 Comment
G-d tells us again
You must show love to strangers
Remember Egypt
Deuteronomy 10:19: You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Most of us know that the words found on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty were written by a Jewish woman, Emma Lazarus. Click here for a wonderful interactive version of the poem, “The New Colossus.”
I LOVE Haiku; it says so much with so few words. The book “Haikus for Jews” is one of my favorite books; it always brightens my day and mood.
It is interesting to me that the Shema is a Haiku!
Five syllables, seven syllables, then five again: The PERFECT Haiku. Can it be just a coincidence that the Japanese people cooked that up without the Shema?
Interestingly enough, I believe that in the Shinto religion that their priests wear a large square box on the middle of their foreheads. Nobody knows where the tradition came from…but I know that many Jews lived in Japan at various times and all I can think of is that at one time, the Shintos were influenced by Judaism.
I could, of course, be all wet about that, but it is a point of interest to me, at least.