In the olden days it was the priest
who was the fount of wisdom, scribes and scholars
replacing him. Though many aren’t deceased,
now precedence is given to the dollar,
a scholar being somebody who heckles
the priests, while sucking up to wealthy donors
who provide, as they did to the priests, their shekels
that come from a self-serving annual bonus.
Inspired by Ra’anan Boustan’s discussion of egalitarianism and anti-priestly polemic in Heikhalot Rabbati discussed in his book Ra’anan Boustan, From Martyr to Mystic: Rabbinic Martyrology & the Making of Merkavah Mysticism (Studies & Texts in Ancient Judaism) (Tübingen Mohr Siebeck,2005) ,275–81, and Congress’s decision to curb the annual bonuses of bankers who have caused the collapse of the US economy.
2/13/09
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem