Tisha B’Av: The Meaning of Exile

Imagine running in the dead of the night

Grabbing what you can & leaving behind

Everything you thought made up your life

Everything you thought was life was a lie

Cos everything you thought, & everything you bought

Don’t offer no protection, & now you’re caught

A rabbit with a panic attack

Stopped dead in your tracks

No destination & no way back

The city you were livin in smoulders in ash

Civilians are massacred whilst soldiers harass

Those fortunate survivors chosen to be slaves

Manacled in shackles & marched far away-

The adverts advertised appetising lies

But now reality has removed its disguise

Delusion has melted away & left you naked

Exposed to a baseless hatred

Wondering the earth with no dignity or safety

& forced to flee before enmity & hastily

We learn to pack up what is really essential

Teach it to our children & carry the Temple

Deep in our hearts, many times a day

We pray for rebuilding, we pray for the day

That nation will not lift up sword against nation

Nor will they learn war any more

But these words are beginning to sound empty

When the supposedly civilised world can’t prevent the

Propagation of preposterous prejudice

The creation of hatred, the genesis of enemies

In a world so broken that the glow from the Temple’s embers

Burns on our plasma screen TVs, and begs us to remember

What happens when we exile ourselves from the tender touch

Of this gift that we’re given to be livin

Across the globe, sparks of light are hidden

& our mission is to re-build ourselves

Thru the fission of our ancestral wisdom

& the vision of every people

& so we were scattered to learn & to teach

& given opportunities to listen & to speak

Until we’ll be gathered together to reach

A unity too deep for words

In tune with the people of Earth.