(ז) וְעַתָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה אָבִ֣ינוּ אָ֑תָּה אֲנַ֤חְנוּ הַחֹ֙מֶר֙ וְאַתָּ֣ה יֹצְרֵ֔נוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדְךָ֖ כֻּלָּֽנוּ׃ (ח) אַל־תִּקְצֹ֤ף יְהֹוָה֙ עַד־מְאֹ֔ד וְאַל־לָעַ֖ד תִּזְכֹּ֣ר עָוֺ֑ן הֵ֥ן הַבֶּט־נָ֖א עַמְּךָ֥ כֻלָּֽנוּ׃
(7) But now, O LORD, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You are the Potter,
We are all the work of Your hands. (8) Be not implacably angry, O LORD,
Do not remember iniquity forever.
Oh, look down to Your people, to us all!
We are the clay, and You are the Potter,
We are all the work of Your hands. (8) Be not implacably angry, O LORD,
Do not remember iniquity forever.
Oh, look down to Your people, to us all!
1. What do you think about the juxtaposition of the "parent" and "potter" metaphors? How do they inform and nuance one another?
2. How would you explain the relationship between verse 7 and verse 8?
Ki hinei kachomer -- Yom Kippur Piyyut
Behold as the clay in the hand of the potter,
who expands or contracts it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O God of love;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the stone in the hand of the mason,
who hews or fragments it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O God of life;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the iron in the hand of the blacksmith,
who forges or rejects it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O God Who sustains the poor;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the anchor in the hand of the sailor,
who weighs or casts it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O good and forgiving God;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the glass in the hand of the glazier,
who shapes or melts it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O gracious God;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the cloth in the hand of the weaver,
who drapes or twists it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O gracious God;
look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
Behold as the silver in the hand of the silversmith,
who alloys or refines it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O healing God;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the clay in the hand of the potter,
who expands or contracts it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O God of love;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the stone in the hand of the mason,
who hews or fragments it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O God of life;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the iron in the hand of the blacksmith,
who forges or rejects it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O God Who sustains the poor;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the anchor in the hand of the sailor,
who weighs or casts it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O good and forgiving God;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the glass in the hand of the glazier,
who shapes or melts it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O gracious God;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
Behold as the cloth in the hand of the weaver,
who drapes or twists it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O gracious God;
look to the covenant and overlook our sin.
Behold as the silver in the hand of the silversmith,
who alloys or refines it at will,
so are we in Your hand, O healing God;
look to the covenant, overlook our sin.
1. What would you identify as central themes of this poem?
2. Of all the metaphors the author might have used for the Divine, he chose artisans. What does this particular language evoke that the language of Parent or Lover or Air-Traffic-Controller-in-the-Sky wouldn't capture?
3. This piyyut doesn't choose only one artistic medium, but several. Why not just choose one medium and dive further into it? How does this piyyut resonate differently by casting this wide net of artistic endeavors?
(א) הַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָיָ֣ה אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ מֵאֵ֥ת יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) ק֥וּם וְיָרַדְתָּ֖ בֵּ֣ית הַיּוֹצֵ֑ר וְשָׁ֖מָּה אַשְׁמִיעֲךָ֥ אֶת־דְּבָרָֽי׃ (ג) וָאֵרֵ֖ד בֵּ֣ית הַיּוֹצֵ֑ר (והנהו) [וְהִנֵּה־ה֛וּא] עֹשֶׂ֥ה מְלָאכָ֖ה עַל־הָאׇבְנָֽיִם׃ (ד) וְנִשְׁחַ֣ת הַכְּלִ֗י אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה֥וּא עֹשֶׂ֛ה בַּחֹ֖מֶר בְּיַ֣ד הַיּוֹצֵ֑ר וְשָׁ֗ב וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ כְּלִ֣י אַחֵ֔ר כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר יָשַׁ֛ר בְּעֵינֵ֥י הַיּוֹצֵ֖ר לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ {ס}
(1) The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD: (2) “Go down to the house of a potter, and there I will impart My words to you.” (3) So I went down to the house of a potter, and found him working at the wheel. (4) And if the vessel he was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter’s hands,-a he would make it into another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make.
1. What element of clay does this text bring in? Why would a potter's wheel be the setting for God to deliver a vision to a prophet?
2. Reading just this little section of text and embracing the metaphor, what do you "read" as the clay?
3. The essential malleability of clay at a potter's wheel is so evocative. If you imagine yourself as the clay, do you experience this as a positive image of flexibility and rebirth, or feel a touch of existential fear that there is nothing stable about your essential self? (Or something in between, of course ...)
(ז) וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַֽיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃
(7) God יהוה formed** the Human from the top layer of the earth, blowing into his nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being. **this is the verb used for a potter forming something from clay
עפר מן האדמה DUST OF THE EARTH — He gathered his dust (i.e. that from which he was made) from the entire earth — from its four corners — in order that wherever he might die, it should receive him for burial (Rashi, Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 3).
1. Without putting a lot of words around it, this image immediately creates a relationship between humans and God and between humans and the earth. How would you describe it? How do these two "poles" or connections play out in your own human experience?
1. Without putting a lot of words around it, this image immediately creates a relationship between humans and God and between humans and the earth. How would you describe it? How do these two "poles" or connections play out in your own human experience?
"No Matter What You Know"
by Dorothy Walters
Reality is always
Soft clay
Ever shifting and changing
Its shape
Fire it
Into form, and at
The very moment you are
Hailing its final truth
It will break in your hands.
1. What other element of clay does this poem bring into the conversation?
2. How does this text fit together with others you've read today?
3. If you imagine once again that you are the clay, how do you relate to this poem?
by Dorothy Walters
Reality is always
Soft clay
Ever shifting and changing
Its shape
Fire it
Into form, and at
The very moment you are
Hailing its final truth
It will break in your hands.
1. What other element of clay does this poem bring into the conversation?
2. How does this text fit together with others you've read today?
3. If you imagine once again that you are the clay, how do you relate to this poem?