He said his buddy Prejean, who’s from Eloe, told him exactly who I was, and he started checking me out on the sly, quietly sizing me up in this dangerous **prison environment** shaped by **incarceration and survival**. He said, “They say the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. But I didn’t know which tree you fell from—mine or your mama’s.” Then he said that once he really saw me, all I got from him was “bowlegs and nappy hair.” After that, he paid good money to get me moved to his cell before the **prison violence** got any worse than it already was. He said, “Admit it. Things got better for you once you moved in with me. You got to give me some credit.”
Celestial, I want to be mad at him. He left my mama like a two-dollar trick, but the truth is he would’ve been a terrible father to me in my real life outside of **incarceration**. He wouldn’t have sacrificed to get me to Morehouse or invested in my future the way a real parent should. Still, I have to give him the credit he asked for. If it wasn’t for him, I could be dead by now or at least a lot worse off in this brutal **prison system**. Walter isn’t the Don Corleone of the prison, but he is an old head, and people stay out of his way. He didn’t have to take me in, but he did—an act of protection that matters in **prison survival**.
It’s complicated. Last night, when lights were out, he said, “I can’t believe she let that nigger change your name. That’s disrespectful.”
I pretended like I didn’t hear him. To say even one word would be a crime against Big Roy. He made me his junior with more than his name. He was my father—or should I say, he *is* my father. But Walter is my old man in here, inside this world of **incarceration trauma and family conflict**.
This world is too much for me, Celestial. I know I said I wasn’t going to do any begging in this letter, but I will ask you once more. Please come and see about me. I need to see your face—something real to hold on to in this **long-distance marriage strained by prison life**.
Love,
Roy
—
Dear Roy,
I’m writing this letter to ask you to forgive me. Please be patient. I know it has been a long time since I last came to see you or wrote the way I should have. At first, it was because I was going through a lot emotionally, trying to survive my own version of this **marriage separation caused by incarceration**, but now my reason for staying away is boring and uncomplicated. The holiday season is here, and I’m slammed at the shop.
My assistant, Tamar, is going to cover for me weekend after next. She’s a student at Emory, with talent to burn and a gorgeous gift for quilts—just breathtaking, the kind of detail that fills the quiet spaces left by **absence and emotional distance**.
So while Tamar minds the store, Gloria and I are going to drive up. She wants to give your mother one of her famous blackberry jam cakes, and I could use the company—especially for a trip that feels heavy, like **visiting an inmate** you still love.
I know that you’re mad at me. You have a right to be frustrated. But I hope that we can rewrite this paragraph of our lives—one shaped by **wrongful conviction, forgiveness, and emotional letters written across prison walls**.
Don’t waste our visit being angry. When we sit down together inside that visiting room, our time is precious, especially in the reality of **prison life and incarceration**. If you can forgive, please forgive me. If I explain myself, will you listen? Tell me what I need to do to make things better between us, to repair this **marriage strained by separation and imprisonment**.
What does Walter have to say about all of this? I hope you haven’t spoken about me too harshly. I don’t want to meet my father-in-law for the first time under these circumstances and make an unfavorable impression. (I’ll get to meet him, won’t I?) How are you two handling this shocking development? I suppose you’re the only one who’s truly shocked, but I know it must have shifted the dynamic between you. Did you tell Olive? There’s so much to unpack here—**family conflict, unexpected revelations, and emotional fallout**. In the meantime, give me his information so I can put something on his **prison commissary** for the holidays.
I know you’re proud, but let me do this—for him and for you. He’s family. I’ll see you soon, during this difficult season of **incarceration and long-distance marriage**.
Yours,
Celestial
—
Dear Celestial,
Thank you for coming to see me. I know the journey is long, and I know you are a busy woman with a full life outside these walls. You look different. At first, I thought maybe you had lost weight because your face seemed more defined, more shaped. But I don’t think the change is physical. It feels deeper than that. Are you all right? Is something happening that I should know about? This isn’t a backdoor way of asking if you’re seeing someone else—that’s the last thing on my mind amid everything that **prison separation** already takes from us.
I’m just asking what’s going on. When I looked at you, I was staring straight into your face, but somehow I didn’t really see you. That distance scared me more than anything else I’ve experienced in this **prison system**.
I don’t have the right words to explain what I felt.
Roy
—
Dear Roy,
How am I supposed to respond to your last letter? Yes, I’ve lost a few pounds. Some of it was intentional—I’ve been flying to New York frequently, and you know people are leaner up there. I don’t want to arrive looking like the unsophisticated girl from “down south” selling folk art. If my dolls are going to be taken seriously in the **art world and creative business**, I have to look the part. But I know my waistline isn’t really what you’re asking about.
Am I different? It’s been close to three years, so yes, I suppose I’ve changed. Time does that, especially when it’s shaped by **absence, incarceration, and emotional distance**. Yesterday, I sat under the hickory tree in the front yard. It’s the only place where I feel any real sense of rest—where I can just feel fine. I know “fine” isn’t much, but it’s rare for me these days. Even when I’m happy, it feels complicated, filtered through everything we’ve lost and everything we’re still trying to hold on to.
## The Weight of Time and Duty
There is a barrier between me and the joy I should feel; it’s like trying to taste a butterscotch candy while it’s still sealed in the wrapper—a frustrating **emotional disconnect** in the face of good news. I look at the trees, untouched by the **anxiety and stress** we humans fret over, and I realize they were here long before us and will remain long after. While some might find this nihilistic, I find it a grounding perspective on **mindful living**.
Roy, we are facing the reality of **aging and life stages**. Every week, I find myself plucking gray hairs—perhaps it’s early for hair dye, but it’s a clear sign of **time management** escaping us. We aren’t elderly, but we aren’t teenagers; maybe that’s the “lost time” you sensed. As for your question about **relationship infidelity**—you claim you aren’t asking, yet you brought it up. My answer remains the same: Your ring is on my finger, a symbol of our **marriage commitment**.
### A Request Born of Crisis
Dear Celestial, Olive is sick. When Big Roy visited, looking like a bear on a mushroom in that tiny chair, I knew the **health diagnosis** was grim: lung cancer, despite her quitting smoking decades ago. I am asking for your help with **family caregiving**. I know I’m “running up a tab” of favors, much like my **student loan debt** or my Morehouse expenses.
I’m tracking the cost of my life per minute, and though you aren’t keeping a scorecard, I am. I need your **financial support** on my books and your help keeping Uncle Banks sharp. More than that, I need you to help me maintain my **self-identity and mental health** so I don’t lose who I am in this system. I can see the “need” wearing a hole in our fabric. I can distinguish between **true love vs. obligation**, and lately, when I look at you, I see only duty. This is a heavy ask—a long drive to see a woman you’ve never bonded with—but I need the truth about my mother’s **palliative care** that my father won’t share.
### The Unsent Letter
Dear Roy, this is the letter I promised I would never send. I am deeply sorry, and typing these words is an act of **emotional labor** that is killing me. I won’t claim my pain is greater than yours, because I know the depth of what you are losing.
## Navigating the Ending of a Marriage
I realize you are hurting every day, and regardless of my own struggle, it will never compare to your reality. While I am not in the same physical agony, my **mental health and well-being** are at a breaking point; I cannot continue to live this way. I have decided I can no longer continue being your wife. In many ways, I feel I never had the chance to master that role. We were only married for eighteen months before “lightning struck”—a brief **marriage timeline** we counted in months, much like a newborn. For three years, I have tried to maintain a **long-distance marriage** without the reality of a shared life.
You may assume this involves **infidelity or another man**, but this is strictly about our **relationship breakdown**. Our connection has been shredded by your **wrongful conviction and incarceration**. Seeing your father at your mother’s funeral showed me the true meaning of a **life partner**; they shared thirty years under one roof, growing together. That is the definition of a marriage. What we have is not a marriage; a marriage is more than just a feeling in your heart—it is a shared life, and we are currently living separate lives.
### The Cost of Absence
I blame this on time, not on us. If we used a “penny jar” to track our days together versus our days apart, our **emotional bank account** would have been depleted long ago. Our **prison visitation** sessions at those sad tables leave me empty-handed. We have reached a point where we say nothing; you cannot bear to hear about my daily life, and I cannot bear the reality of yours.
I am not choosing **abandonment**. My uncle will continue your **legal appeals and post-conviction relief**. I will maintain your **commissary funding** and visit monthly as your friend, ally, or sister. You are family, but I must pursue a **legal separation** from the role of wife.
Love (and I mean it), Celestial.
—
### Roy’s Response: Loyalty vs. Freedom
Dear Georgia, what do you want me to say? Am I supposed to accept a **friend zone** arrangement? My interpretation of “till death do us part” was literal, and last I checked, I am still alive. You are choosing to be an **empowered woman** and leave a man when he is at his lowest. I never expected this lack of **loyalty in relationships**. There are women who stay committed for decades, navigating the **transportation challenges** of riding buses from Baton Rouge just to stay connected.
## Conflict in the Visiting Room: Loyalty vs. Survival
Roy argues that women from Baton Rouge arrive at 5 a.m., showing a level of **devotion and commitment** he feels Celestial lacks. He mentions that even Walter has women he’s never met in person who show up for more than just talk, some even choosing to **bunk in their cars** in the parking lot to be first for **prison visitation**. Before her passing, his mother was there every week. He asks pointedly: What makes you think you’re so much better than them? He refuses her offer of a **platonic friendship**, stating clearly that he doesn’t need friends.
— ROH
### The Cost of Emotional Labor and Incarceration
Dear Roy, I didn’t expect a ticker-tape parade for my honesty, but I expected you to value my **female perspective**. Are you really comparing me to the women on the crack-of-dawn bus? I know them. They organize their entire lives around **visiting an inmate** at Parson; it is all they do besides work. They endure a **strip search** every single week. More than once, I’ve had a guard put her hand in my undergarments just so I could sit across from you. Is this the **quality of life** you want for me? Is this your definition of **true love**?
You’ve spent three years admitting you can’t provide what I need, yet now you act confused. I have stayed for three years in body and spirit, but I have to change my **coping strategies** or I won’t have any spirit left. I will continue my **financial support** and keep visiting, but I cannot do it as your wife.
— C
### A Declaration of Innocence and Legal Separation
Dear Celestial, **I am innocent.**
Dear Roy, **I am innocent, too.**
Dear Celestial, it’s my turn to send the **breakup letter** I never wanted to write. I am formally discontinuing our relationship. You’re right—this marriage has become a **one-way street**. But I only want you in my life as my wife because, in my heart, I am your husband. Please do not attempt further **prison visits**. If you disregard my wishes, you will be turned away by **prison security**.
Jews do not “wait” for some pie in the sky messiah savior from heaven. The Sinai revelation revealed the Divine Presence in this Earth. From Sinai till today Jews do not pray to some avoda zara God in heaven. We dedicate tohor middot לשמה from within our hearts – the ‘temple’ where HaShem dwells in this Earth since Sinai.
The distinctions between the names of God in different contexts, such as those used by the patriarchs versus the revelation at Sinai, are significant in Jewish thought. Galatians 3:24 rhetoric refers to “Law” but fails to specify the difference between Torah Sanhedrin judicial common law from Roman Senate statute law. Furthermore its rhetoric distorts the concept of Torah faith defined by צדק צדק תרדוף – pursue justice. Its substitute theology replaces this New God JeZeus as the epicenter of faith!
Galatians corrupt rhetoric addressed to Goyim who never accepted the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Hence Goyim have no part no inheritance in the revelation of the local tribal god HaShem. Galatians speaks to Goyim not Jews. Goyim never accepted the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Therefore the lie “our guardian … faith” utter and completely false.
The NT rhetoric theology teaches belief in this new God JeZeus. It knows absolutely nothing touching the revelation of Torah courtroom common law. The latter shares no common ground with religious theological “belief systems”. The NT straight up worships a foreign alien avoda zara new Universal Father/Son\Holy Ghost God. The revelation of the Torah at Sinai exposed a local tribal god of the 12 tribes of Israel who brought freedom to enslaved Israelites and blessed Israel to conquer the lands of Canaan. The NT Universal God does not supersede the local tribal god of Sinai.
The 4th Oral Torah middah of רחום directly connected to the Blessing – rule the land with justice vs. the Curse – return to Egyptian g’lut slavery & oppression. Hence the Torah commands to totally uproot the Nations of Canaan, kill the stubborn and rebellious child, make eternal war against Amalek – understood as Jewish intermarriage and assimilation the Torah refers to as ערב רב; these latter Torah commandments if obeyed prevents Jewish worship of avoda zara and injustice within the conquered homeland. Hence “Mercy”.
Jews do not “wait” for some pie in the sky messiah ‘last days’ savior from heaven. The Sinai revelation revealed the Divine Presence in this Earth. From Sinai till today Jews do not pray to some avoda zara God in heaven. We dedicate tohor middot לשמה from within our hearts – the ‘temple’ where HaShem dwells in this Earth since Sinai. Torah common law aint some mystical belief system; Torah does not prioritize the ‘End of Days’ mysticism which the mystic Book of Daniel records. Just as Torah does not have private names for Angels like as also found in the Book of Daniel. This mystical Book – the only Book in the T’NaCH written in Aramaic.
The Talmud interprets mystic ideas affixed to practical rational halachic ritualism. Rhetoric belief system theologies an utter abomination on par with Baal worship. Torah judicial common law abhors theological belief systems as a form of “bribery”. Rhetoric theological constructs by definition manipulate, distort, & corrupt moral behavior. Prophets command mussar to all generations of Israel. Rhetoric theology promotes witchcraft – fortune tellers who predict the future. Torah judicial Sanhedrin courtroom common law most essentially addresses the need to impose fair restitution of damages inflicted by Jews upon other Jews within the borders of Judea. Belief systems have no central connection to the brit oath sworn lands and the chosen Cohen people. The “grafted onto” metaphor as bankrupt as “the End of Days” metaphor.
The concept of numerical value of numbers hinting to word within words like בראשית — ברית אש, ראש בית, ב’ ראשית. The concept of a רמז extends to numerical gematria numbers. Like 18 – חי. The number 40 – מ, contains no words within words or numbers. So what does the numerical value of 40 hint to? Noach’s flood lasting 40 days not a concealed hint. Contrast the concealed hint following the Golden Calf – Oral Torah revelation! The 40 years in the wilderness directly refers to the death of an entire generation. The hint of curse exile taught. The Book of Yonah compares to the Book of Job, both teach the concealed Torah curse that exile goes hand-in-glove with destruction and disasters.
The Creation story introduces the רמז of 7. The concealed central theme of Torah wisdom known as time-oriented commandments. Impossible to understand ‘shabbat rest’ without discerning the difference between two critical Hebrew verbs, both of which mean “work”… מלאכה VS עבודה. The former qualifies as a Torah wisdom, not so the latter. For example: Cain’s barbeque to heaven rejected because it failed to dedicate Torah wisdom. Hevel korban accepted because his offering separated ‘substance from form’. A korban requires swearing a Torah oath with שם ומלכות, translating words to other words fails to instruct the wisdom of why a Torah oath requires the defined meaning behind the משל of שם ומלכות; acceptance of the written & oral Torahs revealed at Sinai & Horev.
Day of rest by not doing wisdom acts of מלאכה directly implies that a person does commit to doing works of מלאכה throughout the rest of the new week! Not every Jew trained in skilled labor – like as required to construct the Mishkan. But even the poorest Jew can do mitzvot with k’vanna has wisdom which elevates any Torah or Talmudic commandment or halachot to a time-oriented commandment – the Crown of the Torah.
The substitute theology “religion” imposed by the NT supercessionism seeks to replace the Central Top priority of Torah faith – to rule the land with righteous justice – as imposed by righteous common law courtrooms. Prophets the police enforcers of Sanhedrin courtroom common law judicial rulings. Supercessionism, (replacement theology), declares the New Testament religious faith in JeZeus as messiah, fulfills ie supersedes the archaic ‘Old Testament’. This hostile rhetoric propaganda introduced by Romans prior to the Jewish revolts; in Alexandria (49-50 CE), the First Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE), and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 CE).
Impossible to “fulfill” prophetic mussar, like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion Roman NT forgery proclaims throughout the gospels. Prophetic mussar has no ‘past’, this Torah instruction by prophets applies straight across the board to all generations of the Jewish people. Torah commands mussar not history as the rhetoric of NT propaganda declares.
Roman forgery propaganda rhetoric employs Av tuma avoda zara theological narratives to manipulate the minds of Goyim totally uneducated in Torah common law. This rhetoric declare a lock & key monopoly over the Torah mitzva of Moshiach. The broad agenda rhetoric of NT manipulation aligns with replacing the ”Old Testament” with the ”New Testament”. It perverts prophesy unto fortune telling witchcraft. The righteous pursuit of judicial fair restitution of damages inflicted upon others with waiting for divine 2nd coming interventions – a complete and utter abomination on the order of homosexuality vs the mitzva be fruitful and multiply.
Mussar instruction timeless and not “historical”. The portrayal of prophetic fulfillment in the NT is viewed as part of a broader agenda to establish a theological narrative that effectively supplants the Jewish understanding of the Torah. The righteous pursuit of judicial restitution aligns closely with core Jewish values, emphasizing personal responsibility and ethical conduct. Judicial courtroom justice this Torah “commitment to life, continuity, and ethical living” essentially defines the k’vanna of the revelation of HaShem on this Earth at Sinai.
The study of literature learns through compare and contrast.
Torah common law not to be confused with Xtian and Muslim religious theology wherein both religions created their Gods, from the Nicene Creed to Islam’s strict Monotheism Universal God. The Book of Yonah compares to the Book of Job. Both address the destruction of g’lut. The Assyrian empire conquered by the Babylonian empire shortly after Yonah. Torah common law not a religion – bottom line. During the Dark Ages period of the Crusades Jews favored to convert Torah judicial common law courts into a Codified statute law religion strikingly similar to the Catholic church during its scholastic period during this time period.
The kabbalah concept of שכינה makes a סוד opaque – concealment of light – reference to the Sinai revelation of the שם השם wherein Torah permanently revealed as the revelation of this local tribal god in this world. The construction of the Mishkan, likewise another Torah revelation at Sinai to this precise same impact. The 13 tohor middot revealed at Horev following the Golden Calf, rabbi Yochanon taught the סוד opaque kabbalah that all ברכות צריך שם ומלכות; meaning that swearing a Torah oath לשמה requires the sanctification of Oral Torah middot or מלכות. Hence the Shemone Esrei contains 3 + 13 + 3 blessings – תרי”ג; Six Yom Tov + Shabbat – the opening and closing three blessings and the 13 chol and one shabbat blessing(s) refer to the direction of future social behavior through some dedicated tohor middah. Herein defines the K’vanna of all korbanot dedications.
The distinctions in Divine names (e.g., El Shaddai for the patriarchs vs. the Tetragrammaton at Sinai) underscore this shift: the patriarchs experienced God through promises and personal encounters, but Sinai revealed a national, judicial common law legalism. Justice the one word definition of Freedom from Egyptian slavery and invasion of Canaan לשמה.
Law as a “guardian” (παιδαγωγός, often translated as tutor or schoolmaster) until faith in Christ arrives misrepresents Torah as temporary or punitive, rather than an eternal system of pursuing justice. The Sinai revelation no more waits upon JeZeus than do Jews today. Torah functions as the Constitutional mandate of Sanhedrin common law ‘legislative review’ courtroom law. דברים טז:כ – the command to pursue justice actively through courts and ethical behavior. This shares no common ground with: get “Saved & baptized in the name of JeZeus.”
he Torah’s blessings and curses (e.g., ויקרא כו) – tied to ruling the land with justice, uprooting Canaanite avoda zara; meaning to prevent assimilation (ערב רב) and intermarriage. Amalek in all generations the consequences of Jewish assimilation and intermarriage.
The Book of Shemuel addresses the subject of Moshiach for the first time? No. Such a טיפש פשט fails to grasp that the NaCH Prophets and Holy Writings serve as hand maidens to the Kallah Torah bride; Moshe the greatest of the Prophets. Moshe anointed the House of Aaron as Moshiach; Penchas lead the warriors against the king of Moav who hired Bil’aam to curse Israel as משיח מלחמה. The entire purpose of korbanot to dedicate צדק צדק תרדוף as the definition of Torah faith.
Confusing the forms of faith for the substance of faith turned the heart of king Shlomo to worship avoda zara. The “temple” not some grand Catholic Cathedral but Federal Sanhedrin Courtroom common law wherein the Cities of Refuge serve as the spokes of Federal law courts across the land. The Talmud Chagigah 13a warns against excessive speculation concerning the kabbalah of time-oriented commandments expressed through מלאכה wisdom to create from nothing Angels/מלאכים. Even simple mitzvot with kavanah become time-oriented, the “Crown of Torah” (Shabbat 127a).
The Rambam’s critique in Moreh Nevuchim 1:50-54, where he argues that Divine names reflect attributes of action in this world, not metaphysical essences causes my soul to retch; the Book of בראשית – before the revelation of the Torah at Sinai לשמה. The first commandment Name רוח הקודש, whereas all other Divine Names – words. A fundamental רב חסד מאי נפקא מינא fundamental error made by assimilated to Greek logic rather than פרדס logic – Rambam. Assimilation and intermarriage defines the Yonah/Job\Daniel collapse of the Golden Age of Spain. Rambam’s code negated the charem of the Karaim deniers of the Oral Torah on par with the Tzeddukim during the Chanukkah Civil War!
Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica stands as the Catholic equivalent to the Rambam’s horrid Yad Chazaka. Mishna Torah means common law. Rambam’s assimilated Roman law codification – statute law! Another רב חסד מאי נפקא מינא fundamental error. The study of Talmud actively requires the compare and contrast of the different middot (ancient Egyptian bricks) building blocks developed by the Tannaim scholars and employed by all Amoraim scholarship upon the Mishna common law Case/Rule judicial codification made by rabbi Yechuda Ha’Nassi.
The Yalkut Shimoni on Iyov learns that Holy Writing T’NaCH primary source commentary to the Books of the Prophets similar to Gemara’s relationship to the Mishna; it links Iyov’s afflictions to a microcosm of Israel’s exiles, teaching that restoration comes through pursuing justice, not theological resignation.
The Zohar (Shemot 2:216b) describes the שם השם ציוי ראשון as light hidden in vessels, revealed through the Mishkan’s construction. HaShem לא בשמים היא – rather the Spirit Divine Presence Shekinah breathes within the Yatzir Ha-Tov of the heart – תפילה הדבר שבלב and not a Father and Son in Heaven. The prophets sometime inverse the Order of the Oral Torah middot רחום וחנון, based upon the כלל פרט כנגד רבוי מיעט Egyptian bricks made from straw. חנון expansive the next series of middot serve as definitions of חנון. Whereas רחום restricts based upon the commandment concerning treatment of the people of Canaan, the stubborn and rebellious son, Amalek, and Torah blessings & curses. Bottom line: do not confuse mercy with pity.
Korbanot exist only as time oriented commandments which require k’vanna – the opposite of Cains sacrifice! Yeshayahu 1:11-17, HaShem rejects offerings without מלכות Oral Torah middot dedications. Its not the form of living blood that a korban dedicates but rather the substance of the dedication of Horev Oral Torah tohor middot!
Chagigah 13a warns against speculating on ma’aseh bereishit (creation) or merkavah (chariot) mysticism, read through the simplistic טיפש פשט of literal word for word translations. Torah instructs through משל\נמשל rational discipline; Joseph interpreted dreams. Dreams which lack an interpretation compare to a letter never opened and read. Torah common law does not compare to a Harry Potter work of fiction that simple minded children can read and enjoy. Torah common law stands upon the יסוד of בניני אבות-precedents. Talmudic precedents function as logical proofs based upon the understanding that Talmud as 70 faces like the facets of a diamond!
Sefer בראשית together with its Divine Names – pre Sinai. Just that simple. No fancy dance’n. The לשמה Sinai brit, this Divine Spirit lives within the hearts of the chosen Cohen People. Goyim pray to their Gods who dwell in the Heavens. Rambam’s rationalism, influenced by Aristotelian Greek logic, sidelines the פרדס (Pardes) hermeneutic organized into a warp\weft threads of דרוש\פשט – the Aggadah. And רמז/סוד – the Halacha. פרדס inductive logic which conducts a compare and contrast T’NaCH prophetic mussar to halacha which serves as precedents ie a unique perspective by which scholars re-interpret the language intent of the Mishna based upon this בנין אב logical comparison of Case/Rule to similar but different Case\Rule judicial rulings.
A Three-Man Torts Court divides the justices of the Court. One judge assigned as the Prosecuting attorney. The second judge as the Defense attorney. The Difficulty/Answer style of the Gemara edited to communicate this model for a future Sanhedrin Court room once Jews re-conquered the oath brit Home land. T’NaCH\Talmudic inductive logic as far removed from Greek philosophy deductive logic as the lights of Hanukkah despise the T’zeddukim attempts to cause Israel to forget the Oral Torah and also turn Jerusalem into a Greek polis!
Yonah Gerondi wrote Shaarei Teshuva after the disaster of 1242 burning of all Talmudic manuscripts across France in Paris bon-fires. Gerondi duplicated the error of the brothers Hashmonaim who requested that Pompey resolve their dynastic dispute during a prior Hanukkah Civil War some 1000 years previous. The Jewish Civil War witness not only the destruction of the common law Rashi/Tosafot school – all Jews expelled from France in 1306.
But it generated chaos and anarchy that disrupted Jewish refugee exposed nakedness before Goyim enemies; the king of England first imposed taxation without representation then expelled all Jews in 1290. The German kingdoms likewise robbed plundered and made forced population transfers. Pauperization of Jews cause the Vatican decree of ghetto gulah imprisonment of all Western European Jewry which in its turn caused another mass population transfer of Jews from Western to Eastern Europe. Then came the 1648 Cossack pogroms!
Rambam’s code, while brilliant for impoverished g’lut refugee populations scattered across Western Europe during the dying days of the Dark Ages, its inherent corruption – flattened T’NaCH Talmudic common Case\Din law into Aristotelian categories, akin to Aquinas’ fusion of faith and reason egg-crate dogmatism, which the Baal HaMaor cricized the Rif common law code and later the Vilna Gaon critiqued the Rambam’s Yechuda jumping into the Sea of Reeds emphasis on religious codification observance of halacha prioritized over Talmudic depth of inductive פרדס logic; the k’vanna of lighting the lights of Hanukkah.
As mentioned above, the Yalkut Shimoni on Iyov (Remez 906) indeed frames Iyov’s sufferings as a microcosm of Israel’s exiles—from Egypt to Babylon to Rome—teaching that geulah demands active pursuit of justice (צדק), not passive theological surrender. This midrashic commentary functions unto Gemara Aggada: a primary lens on NaCH (Prophets and Writings), linking personal affliction to national t’shuva. Restoration not through resignation, but rather courtroom equity – echoing Devarim 16:20’s mandate.
Tefillah is דבר שבלב (matter of the heart, Berachot :כו) rejects Tehillem prayers as comparable to tefillah oaths; Jews do not pray to any Father-Son duality in the Heavens. Yeshayahu 1:11-17 condemns form without substance: HaShem spurns blood offerings absent מלכות (kingdom)—Oral Torah middot from Horev. The dedication isn’t animal life but tohor attributes, elevating the act to the Torah’s crown (Shabbat 127a). This aligns with the Zohar’s vessel metaphor: external form holds inner light of middot.
These stories rip into the muscle of my heart. It may be literature but it’s authenticity is compelling. Thank you.
Just so you know… as I was formulating my reflection on today’s gospel portion I took a break to read your post. Then the connection hit me. The commonality of the Cleansing of the Leper and your Letters book extracts: begging. The nature of begging.
Celestial walks the narrow line where love remains, but truth must still be spoken.