אודות המחבר
Yakov Azriel
was born in New York and came to live in Israel after finishing his BA in English literature in Brooklyn College (summa cum laude) at the age of 21. When he came to Israel, he studied at Mercaz HaRav Kook for two years, and later on, completed an MA in Judaica, and in May 2004 he received his doctorate (on the stories of Rabbi Nachman of Braslav). He is presently a lecturer at Herzog College. He has published four full-length books of poetry: Threads From A Coat Of Many Colors: Poems on Genesis (2005); In The Shadow Of A Burning Bush: Poems on Exodus (2008); Beads For The Messiah's Bride: Poems on Leviticus (2009); and Swimming In Moses' Well: Poems on Numbers (2011), all published by Time Being Books, a literary press that specializes in poetry. Over 250 of his poems have been published in journals and magazines in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel, and his poems have won eighteen different awards in international poetry competitions. In addition, Yakov has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture for his poetry. Dr. Azriel can be contacted at: yakovaz@hotmail.com
A Poem For Parshat Ekev
יעקב עזריאל
אב תשע"ו
WHEN MINDS ARE SCRAPED BY DOUBT
“ … for man does not live by bread alone ...”
Deuteronomy 8:3

Now is the time of famine, and of drought,
When long awaited rains refuse to fall;
In seeded fields, no green is seen at all,
Nor has a stalk of wheat begun to sprout.
Now is the time when minds are scraped by doubt,
Without that faith that rained when we were small—
Without our father’s scarf, our mother’s shawl —
Without the earth and sky — without — without —

How long can we survive without a sheaf
Of grain from which to make our bread? We’ll die
Without the rains, which surely need to start.
If only, now, the manna of belief
Would suddenly appear, to satisfy
The soul’s parched throat, and hunger of the heart.