{"id":45722,"date":"2018-12-15T19:37:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T17:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45722"},"modified":"2022-07-08T16:53:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T13:53:46","slug":"the-prayer-of-the-lame-temple-priest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-prayer-of-the-lame-temple-priest\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prayer Of The Lame Temple-Priest"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[769,362],"acf":{"old_id":"45722","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36669,"related_cahpter":"111","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"...but isn\u2019t everyone crippled in some way?","content":"

\u201cSpeak to Aaron and say: \u2018A man of your seed who, throughout the generations, is handicapped will not be permitted to come close, to offer up the bread of his God. \u00a0For any man who is maimed will not approach: no one who is blind or lame \u2026 \u201d (Leviticus 21:17-18)<\/span><\/p>\n

My God and the God of my fathers,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I, born into the House of Aaron, <\/span>
\n<\/span>Raised in the shadow of Your Holy Mountain,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Taught to measure and weigh the eleven spices of Your incense,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Turn to You in prayer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since my earliest childhood, I have learned<\/span>
\n<\/span>The complexities of the laws of sacrifice:<\/span>
\n<\/span>How to catch the blood of the slaughtered bull<\/span>
\n<\/span>And dash it upon the altar;<\/span>
\n<\/span>To flay the burnt-offering and cut it in pieces,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Then wash its entrails and legs in water;<\/span>
\n<\/span>After laying out wood upon the coals,<\/span>
\n<\/span>To burn the sacrifice in smoke upon the altar.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Why then am I not allowed inside Your sanctuary? <\/span><\/p>\n

I was given the body of a young Temple priest,<\/span>
\n<\/span>A mind that grasps the intricacies of Your Torah,<\/span>
\n<\/span>A spirit that seeks You each time I close my eyes.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Why can\u2019t I come close to You?<\/span><\/p>\n

I am lame. <\/span>
\n<\/span>I limp.<\/span>
\n<\/span>I drag my feet. <\/span><\/p>\n

But isn\u2019t everyone crippled in some way?<\/span><\/p>\n

I yearn to approach You,<\/span>
\n<\/span>To come close to Your mystery,<\/span>
\n<\/span>To be bathed in Your light,<\/span>
\n<\/span>To turn aside Your curtain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why am I outcast from Your Presence? <\/span><\/p>\n

My older brother, who speaks foul language and tells lewd jokes,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Can run and ascend the ramp of Your altar;<\/span>
\n<\/span>My cousin, dimwitted, mixes oil and frankincense with fine flour as a meal-offering;<\/span>
\n<\/span>My uncle, who loves only money, can light Your seven candles each evening;<\/span>
\n<\/span>But not I.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I will never give You up.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Though my feet may not race up the altar\u2019s ramp,<\/span>
\n<\/span>My spirit soars<\/span>
\n<\/span>To You,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I live for You.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Each dawn when I pray,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I close my eyes<\/span>
\n<\/span>And feel Your cool shadow<\/span>
\n<\/span>Enfolding me in its wings,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Scooping me up<\/span>
\n<\/span>To Your heavenly Temple of blue fire.<\/span>
\n<\/span>And there, as I hear Levites chanting psalms<\/span>
\n<\/span>And music from thousands of harps and timbrels,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I come before You,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Dressed in a white linen tunic,<\/span>
\n<\/span>To leap and exult and somersault before my Lord,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Worshipping You<\/span>
\n<\/span>In dance.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":99075,"id":99075,"title":"1chron9-crutches crippled","filename":"1chron9-crutches-crippled.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1chron9-crutches-crippled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-lame-cohen\/1chron9-crutches-crippled\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1chron9-crutches-crippled","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":99074,"date":"2021-11-15 15:44:17","modified":"2022-07-08 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