Commentary on the Teachings of Rabbi Yeshua - Mt. 10:24-25

אין תלמיד גדול מרבו העבד גדול מאדוניו׃ 24

די לתלמיד להיות כרבו ולעבד כאדוניו 

"No disciple is greater than his teacher, nor is the servant greater than his master.
It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and for the servant to be like his master."

This teaching seems to me to be very Jewish, and to prefigure the chasidut (chasidism) of the eighteenth century. But what does it mean for the student to be like his or her teacher? I remember reading in one of Martin Buber's books (Tales of the Baal Shem Tov, Tales of the Hasidim, vol 1 and 2) that that a rebbe's followers would try to be like him in all things, even to tying their shoes as he did, I was very much influenced by those books (as well as I AND THOU), and yet I do not call Martin Buber my teacher, great as he was.

No, it is something different. There must be a personal connection of some kind, and you either feel it or you don't. If you do, you are galvanized.

I do not need to be greater than my friend John, who was a Lubavitcher Chasid, or greater than Shlomo, to whom he introduced me. As for being like them, I only need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and pass it on.

Verses of the Kadmonim - III

We do not own these bodies.
We are given the use of them,
and have no right to destroy
or toxify them.
Everything comes to us
from HaShem,
from the Eternal.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

About the Udugi Language

Yesterday there were 397 visits to this blog, the largest number we have had in one day. Today there have so far been 84 more. They are from the United States, and they are studying the Udugi language. I wish I could believe that they are Cherokee people, but that isn't very likely. My considered opinion is that they are from a three-letter intelligence agency, and are upset because they cannot understand the language. I don't care if they learn it; I would even help them. At least someone, besides myself, would be using the language.

The Udugi language can be understood, or at least 80% of it, by any speaker of Cherokee. It is not for secrets, and I have no secrets.

Dear NSA/CIA/FBI: Feel free to request an Udugi dictionary. I will freely give it. Also, there is an online Cherokee dictionary that is much larger than my Udugi dictionary, and the vocabulary is basically the same.

Several times I have requested my readers to not try to use the Udugi language for secrets. Its basic vocabulary is too well known, and that is not what it is for.

The purpose of the Udugi language is to save at least some part of the Cherokee (Tsalagi) language from extinction.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.
E-mail: exolinguist at gmail dot com
Thank you for your interest in this wonderful language.

Verses of the Kadmonim - II (en, fr, es, pt)

The crown of which we dare not speak
Sits lightly on the broadest brow.
From wisdom and understanding
Knowledge springs somehow.
Mercy and strength form beauty,
May it last for long.
Victory and splendor
Make the foundation strong.
The kingdom is the root
That makes the tree to grow.

La couronne dont on n'ose pas parler
Repose légèrement sur le front le plus large.
De la sagesse et de la compréhension
La connaissance jaillit en quelque sorte.
La miséricorde et la force forment la beauté,
Puisse cela durer longtemps.
Victoire et splendeur
Renforcent les fondations.
Le royaume est la racine
Qui fait grandir l'arbre.

La corona de la cual no nos atrevemos a hablar
Descansa ligeramente sobre la frente más ancha.
De la sabiduría y la comprensión
El conocimiento surge de alguna manera.
La misericordia y la fuerza forman belleza,
Que dure por mucho tiempo.
Victoria y esplendor
Fortalecen los cimientos.
El reino es la raíz.
Que hace que el árbol crezca.

A coroa da qual não ousamos falar
Apoia-se levemente na testa mais larga.
De sabedoria e entendimento
O conhecimento brota de alguma forma.
Misericórdia e força formam a beleza,
Que dure por muito tempo.
Vitória e esplendor
Fortalecem a fundação.
O reino é a raiz
O que faz a árvore crescer.

Text © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Verses of the Kadmonim - I

The worm Ouroboros eats its tail
where a star is born
and the solar winds wail.
The one on whom a light is shone
is Adám, Adám Kadmón.

Le ver Ouroboros mange sa queue
où naît une étoile
et les vents solaires gémissent.
Celui sur qui brille une lumière
est Adam, Adam Kadmon.

El gusano Ouroboros se come la cola
donde nace una estrella
y los vientos solares aúllan.
Aquel en quien brilla una luz
es Adam, Adam Kadmón.

O verme Ouroboros come o rabo
onde nasce uma estrela
e os ventos solares lamentam.
Aquele em quem uma luz brilha
é Adam, Adam Kadmon.

התולעת אורובורוס אוכלת את זנבה
איפה שנולד כוכב
ורוחות השמש יללות.
זה שעליו מאיר אור
הוא אדם, אדם קדמון.

Text © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

For Better or Worse / Pour le meilleur ou pour le pire / Para bien o para mal / Para melhor ou pior

For better or worse, this body is what it is,
it holds many mysteries, but it has no secrets.
It is the vehicle that will take me to this race's awkward end,
and in the end will be remembered
as a faithful friend.

Pour le meilleur ou pour le pire, ce corps est ce qu'il est,
il possède de nombreux mystères, mais il n'a pas de secrets.
C'est le véhicule qui me mènera à la fin maladroite de cette course,
et à la fin on se souviendra
comme un ami fidèle.

Para bien o para mal, este cuerpo es lo que es,
posee muchos misterios, pero no tiene secretos.
Es el vehículo que me llevará al final incómodo de esta carrera,
y al final será recordado
como un amigo fiel.

Para melhor ou pior, este corpo é o que é,
possui muitos mistérios, mas não tem segredos.
É o veículo que me levará ao fim embaraçoso desta corrida,
e no final será lembrado
como um amigo fiel.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

ᎤᏰᎸᎭ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ 77 - The Abundance of the Earth / L'abondance de la terre / +many translations

gvwalosvsdo elohi vhnai gayoligase,
nasgi-igvnisisgi aquatseli gvwalosvsdo adanvdo vhnai ase advsv.

ᎬᏩᎶᏒᏍᏙ ᎡᎶᎯ ᎥᎿᎢ ᎦᏲᎵᎦᏎ,
ᎾᏍᎩ-ᎢᎬᏂᏏᏍᎩ ᎠᏆᏤᎵ ᎬᏩᎶᏒᏍᏙ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ ᎥᎿᎢ ᎠᏎ ᎠᏛᏒ.

The abundance of the earth is shrinking,
so our abundance of spirit must grow.

L'abondance de la terre diminue,
donc notre abondance d'esprit doit croître.

A abundância da terra está encolhendo,
então nossa abundância de espírito deve crescer.

L'abbondanza della terra si sta riducendo,
quindi la nostra abbondanza di spirito deve crescere.

La abundancia de la tierra se está reduciendo,
entonces nuestra abundancia de espíritu debe crecer.

שפע האדמה מתכווץ,
כך ששפע הרוח שלנו צריך לגדול.

وفرة الأرض تتقلص ،
لذلك يجب أن تنمو وفرة الروح لدينا.

पृथ्वी की बहुतायत सिकुड़ रही है,
इसलिए हमारी आत्मा की प्रचुरता बढ़नी चाहिए।

地球的丰度正在缩小，
因此，我们必须丰富精神。

地球の豊かさは縮小しています
私たちの豊かな精神は成長しなければなりません。

Обилие земли уменьшается,
поэтому наше изобилие духа должно расти.

Kelimpahan bumi menyusut,
jadi kelimpahan roh kita harus tumbuh.

Ang kasaganaan ng lupa ay lumiliit,
kaya ang ating kasaganaan ng espiritu ay dapat lumago.

Yeryüzünün bolluğu azalıyor,
bu yüzden ruhumuzun bolluğu büyümeli.

지구의 풍요 로움이 줄어들고 있습니다
그러므로 우리의 풍요로운 정신이 커져야합니다.

დედამიწის სიმრავლე მცირდება,
ასე რომ, ჩვენი სულის სიმრავლე უნდა გაიზარდოს.
dedamits’is simravle mtsirdeba,
ase rom, chveni sulis simravle unda gaizardos.

Lurraren ugaritasuna txikitzen ari da,
beraz, gure izpiritu ugaritasuna hazi behar da.

Jordens overflod krymper,
så vår overflod av ånd må vokse.

فراوانی زمین در حال کوچک شدن است ،
به وفور روح ما باید رشد کند.

La abundeco de la tero malpliiĝas,
do nia abundo de spirito devas kreski.

Journal of a Naked Poet - IV

My job search in July 1963 took three weeks. After some false starts, I walked into the Berlitz School of Languages at 26 O'Farrell Street and applied for a job, though none had been advertised. I was hired to man the front desk as a sort of receptionist, schedule the lessons of the students, and so forth. The Directress, Miss Brunhilde Diemand, was on vacation, so in her absence I was hired by the Office Manager, Mrs. Marion George. It was my languages (and my own courage or effrontery) that got me in the door, but they had further plans for me that I did not know about.

I had only been at Berlitz for a month when, in August, I began to manage their San Mateo branch. While there, I also began to teach English, by the same direct method that we used for all languages. I also sold language courses, and I was extremely good at it, because I believed in the product that I was selling.

So, I was able to pay my share of the rent for the five-room flat on Andover Street. That location was on the south side of Bernal Heights. At the top of the hill (this was before they built the telephone microwave relay station), there was a famous area where young people went to park and "watch the submarine races." We liked to refer to it as Carnal Heights. I never parked there myself, perhaps because I didn't have a car.

I was becoming close with Cheryl (she whose mother had that apartment on Chestnut St. in the Marina). She was into Israeli folk music, taught me some of the dances, and then we went together to a folk dance group called Rikud Am (Dance of the People), which people tended to pronounce very Ashkenazically as "rick-a-dom." It was fun, and I loved the music.

Every day I took a SamTrans commuter bus down to San Mateo and did my stuff at Berlitz. On a Friday in November, Mrs. Belland, who worked in the office, called me from home (it was her day off), and said, "Beg, borrow, or steal a radio; the President has been shot." I hurried down to a drugstore and bought a cheap transistor radio. By the time I got back to the office, they were just beginning to announce that President Kennedy was dead. The news was stunning.

I made an executive decision that I really shouldn't have made without calling San Francisco, and closed the school for the rest of the day. On the SamTrans bus, the high school students from Millbrae, who had been let out early, got on the bus quietly, for the first time ever. In the city, I walked down Market Street, and everyone was silent. I had never seen it like that, not even close.

Being young, there was only so much of funeral music and caissons that we could take. We defended ourselves emotionally by buying 33-1/3 LP albums of Motown music, by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and someone else. We played those albums all weekend, while radio and TV played funeral music.

The following Thursday was Thanksgiving, which Cheryl had kindly invited me to spend with her family. All of the conversation at the table was, of course, about the JFK assassination and the other killings that quickly followed. We didn't have much to be thankful for, except each other.

(to be continued)

He Has Seen the Highs and Lows of Decades / Il a vu les hauts et les bas des décennies / +es, pt

He has seen the highs and lows of decades,
history's brilliance and history's stains.
Centuries too, perhaps he knows,
from the little that remains.
What he sees, he does not say,
but saves it for another day.

Il a vu les hauts et les bas des décennies,
l'éclat de l'histoire et les taches de l'histoire.
Des siècles aussi, peut-être qu'il connait,
du peu qui reste.
Ce qu'il voit, il ne le dit pas,
mais le garde pour un autre jour.

Ha visto los altibajos de décadas,
El brillo de la historia y las manchas de la historia.
Siglos también, tal vez él conoce,
de lo poco que queda.
Lo que ve, no dice,
pero lo guarda para otro día.

Ele viu os altos e baixos de décadas,
brilho da história e manchas da história.
Séculos também, talvez ele saiba,
do pouco que resta.
O que ele vê, ele não diz,
mas mantém-lo para outro dia.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Journal of a Naked Poet - III

After leaving the seminary, I remember reading the book I LEAP OVER THE WALL, by Monica Baldwin. Our cases were very different, since she had been in for 35 years, and I for a few months, but I related strongly to her story. I remember her saying that she still recited the Divine Office (Latin Psalms of the Breviarium Romanum) every day. I could easily understand and appreciate that. Reentering the secular world is a big adjustment. I gave myself a semester to readjust, and then entered San Diego City College.

SDCC (the old, downtown campus) was like a big, concrete playpen. My parents could not afford to put me through college, but they wanted me to live with them while I went. It was my habit to arrive early and attend daily Mass before my first class. I had a couple of PhDs among my teachers, among them the unforgettable Theodore Bardacke. I knew that I was fortunate. To cover my expenses, I worked as a playground supervisor and camp counselor for a Catholic charity. My grades were good, especially since I always kept a foreign language in the mix, and I only got straight As in those.

As the semesters rolled by, I focused less on my classes, and more on social life, Friday TGIFs, and drinking parties. It was largely about music, dancing (I was an excellent dancer, having taken dancing classes in lieu of gym or P. E.), and chasing girls. As to the girls, I wouldn't have known what to do with them if I had caught them.

My mother made the common motherly mistake of trying too hard to control my life, with the result that living at home became intolerable. In June of 1963 I left San Diego for San Francisco. I was traveling in a car with four school friends. We drove all night, arriving early the next morning. To me, coming from San Diego, the air felt like Alaska. We drove up to the top of Telegraph Hill, and looked down at the piers and the Bay. As I looked, I said to myself, "I'm never going back," That turned out not to be true, but I had a real adventure ahead of me.

Our goal was the Berkeley Folk Festival at the University of California. Some of us could afford to go in, but the rest, including me, had to hang around the fountain in Sproul Plaza, and hear what music we could from outside. Two of us, myself and another guy, would be staying on in SF after the Festival. I had only sixty-four dollars in my pocket, which I could not spend on non-necessities.

For a couple of days we stayed at the Chestnut Street apartment of our friend Cheryl and her mother. Then the other guy who was staying, Emil, and I got a room in a skid row hotel for two dollars a night. It reminded me of another book I had read, DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON, by George Orwell. After a week there, our friend Orion would be arriving, and we would all look for an apartment..

As it turned out, we took a nice, furnished five-room flat in the Outer Mission, for $98 a month. That was about $32.50 each, but I had arrived with only $64, and would have to spend something on food, so I'd have to get a job, and fast. I did.

(to be continued)

75,000 Visits to This Blog

As I write this, we are crossing the threshold of 75,000 visits in this poetry / photography blog. Looking back to October 2016, when I started the blog, I must say that I would not have expected such a response. There are now loyal readers in many countries and on every continent except Antarctica (I'm hoping for that one, too).

The blog is still mainly poems with illustrations from my own photography. Over the years it has included disquisitions on nudity, lessons in the Udugi language, and writings on the Synoptic Problem, along with various other ruminations. Recently though, something new has appeared: my own memoirs.

Several of my friends have asked me to write memoirs (while there is still time to do so). For some years I've been resistant, just not wanting to focus on my own personal life. Now though, it seems that something has changed. Perhaps greater age has given me more perspective. Also, having lost many friends, I am increasingly aware of my own mortality. I will, therefore, pursue this project as far as I can, and I'll do it here, in this blog.

As always, I would like to thank you all for your continued interest and enthusiasm. I will try to live up to your expectations, Thank you, merci, gracias, obrigado, wadó, ꮹꮩ.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Journal of a Naked Poet - II

My first historical memory is the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I was two and a half years old, and did not know what death was. I've written about it in several poems. My father was away, fighting in the "Pacific theater," as the military euphemistically called it. I asked my mother where Daddy was, and she told me he was fighting "the Japs." I asked her what a "Jap" was, and she showed me a monstrous figure that she had drawn with colored chalks on a small chalkboard. The casualties of war are not only the bodies of young men and women; they include the minds, the attitudes, the hearts of civilians.

I remember the rainy night in a Navy housing project in Chula Vista, California, when my father came home from the war. I have written about it in a poem or two. My parents had to shyly get reacquainted with each other. I guess they did, because after Patricia and myself, six more children were born.

There was a terrible housing shortage in 1946, and for a while my parents and my sister and I lived in a one-room converted garage. I think it was there that I experienced what I now interpret as a reincarnational flash, involving an old man in a skullcap, working with plant essences. It was the first of many, and I've written about that, too.

One day, while we were living in that garage, my mother sat cross-legged on the foot of my little bed, and started telling me about God. Of course, since she was an Irish Catholic, it was her version. At first I was excited, as she started out with "Long ago, so long ago that you can't imagine it . . . ," but when she got to the Christ part, I clearly remember thinking, "Oh no, not that old story again," and was quite disappointed. When my father came home from work and asked her what she was doing, she was singing Tantum Ergo to me (a thirteenth-century Benediction hymn by Thomas Aquinas, written in complex and erudite Latin that is difficult even for me, now). I'm sure my mother had no idea what it meant, but the melody, when combined with incense and a golden monstrance, is quite compelling. My father, who had not yet converted to Catholicism, was, I'm sure, baffled by the whole thing.

Religion, or rather spirituality, took on increasing importance in my life.  In 1953, when Stalin died, the nuns in my Catholic school told us to pray for him, because "he was a very bad man, and was surely going to hell." I dutifully did so. By the seventh or eighth grade I had developed an infatuation with the simple life of poverty of Saint Francis of Assisi. Poverty was something that I could understand: we had plenty of it.

In high school, when I became literate in Spanish, I became enamored of the mystical writings of Teresa of Ávila. I read the Imitation of Christ in Latin (my copy had belonged to San Diego's Bishop Buddy, and I still, miraculously, have it). Then, straight out of high school, I entered a Jesuit novitiate. I lasted two and a half months.

(to be continued)

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Journal of a Naked Poet - I

Like many people, I was born naked. Also like many people, I was born poor. I don't know that I was born a poet, But I began writing poetry in my late teens. My tastes ran the gamut from American Transcendentalists to English Romantics. My favorite of the latter was John Keats. Of American poets, I eventually settled on Walt Whitman.

In my early college days, some of my juvenilia was published, Here are a couple of samples:


AN ANT'S ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN DEATH

by Donald C. Traxler


While I was crawling on the ground
Beneath a crumb of cake,
I heard a mighty, thunderous sound,
And the earth began to shake.
At once the sky turned black as ink;
The sun was hidden from my sight.
The last thing that I saw, I think,
Was one word--"NEOLITE."

I am dating myself here, but in 1963 everyone knew that "NEOLITE" was a brand name for shoe soles.


Here is another, from the same year:


SYMBOLS, SHAPES, AND SIGNS

by Donald C. Traxler


History began with symbols, shapes, and signs
which together made words, and the words made lines.
Xs, lines, and circles in the sand of the beach,
carvings in a cave where the tide won't reach;
scattered, scrambled wedges in baked clay bricks
were made with sharp styluses instead of sticks.
Heads and hands and crooked lines and facy snakes and birds
filled the pharoahs' tombs with pharoah-pleasing words.
In China letters came from jagged lines and hooks,
and characters were made to look the way a spider looks.
And when you come to read old Aesop's fables,
you'll find the ps are rs, the the ps are crooked tables.
And far across the ocean where the sun's so hot it boils,
the Mayas made their letters out of bas-relief gargoyles.
The Arabs of the desert use their sickles, knots, and dots
to decorate their frescoes and their alabaster pots.
History goes on with symbols, shaped, and signs
which together make words, and the words make lines.


Ah yes, those were the days. I wrote some pretty long poems, and also some long, pretty poems. But something in me will no longer allow me to do that. I guess I've become a minimalist poet, for better or for worse.

I remember, in those early college years, wondering why people couldn't walk around on the street without clothes. I just couldn't understand it. Those of us of the Asperger's persuasion tend to have a hard time with social injustice.

I was very thin in my childhood and youth. My need for body acceptance and my love of lying naked in the sun caused me to become committed to the idea of nudism / naturism. In high school, my mother had disapprovingly called me a "nudist" because I slept nude,.I still do, but the term no longer has any sting. Both in Spain and in the San Francisco Bay Area, my wife and I were in the habit of going to nude beaches, a lovely and liberating experience. I also meditated nude, and did yoga nude, even leading a group for the latter on the Internet. Nudity became an integral part of my life, both waking and sleeping.

(to be continued)

Text and images © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

If You Don't Like the Way I Look / Si vous n'aimez pas mon apparence / +es. pt

"If you don't like the way I look,
look the other way."
--Willie Nelson

"Si vous n'aimez pas mon apparence,
regarde de l'autre côté".

"Si no te gusta cómo me veo,
mira al otro lado".

"Se você não gosta da minha aparência,
olhe para o outro lado".

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

asgitisga / ᎠᏍᎩᏘᏍᎦ / Dream / Rêve / Sueño / Sonho

asgitisga yeliquase kanohedi ugodidi
iyusdidine. nasgi yeliquase kanohedi
tla uwasa na gesvise ale na gesvose,
aseno nasquv na gesvase.

ᎠᏍᎩᏘᏍᎦ ᏰᎵᏆᏎ ᎧᏃᎮᏗ ᎤᎪᏗᏗ
ᎢᏳᏍᏗᏗᏁ. ᎾᏍᎩ ᏰᎵᏆᏎ ᎧᏃᎮᏗ
Ꮭ ᎤᏩᏌ Ꮎ ᎨᏒᎢᏎ ᎠᎴ Ꮎ ᎨᏒᎣᏎ,
ᎠᏎᏃ ᎾᏍᏋ Ꮎ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ.

A dream can tell many
things. It can tell
not only what was and what will be,
but also what is.

Un rêve peut dire beaucoup
de choses. Ça peut dire
non seulement ce qui était et ce qui sera,
mais aussi ce qui est.

Un sueño puede decir muchas
cosas. Puede decir
no solo lo que fue y lo que será,
pero también lo que es

Um sonho pode dizer muitas
coisas. Pode dizer
não só o que foi e o que será,
mas também o que é.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.

The Gardener

I met the Gardener
who had been gone
these many years.
I tracked her down
from room to room
in a palatial theater.
As we sat side by side
in audience seats,
she showed me a cucumber
with its seeds.
"I could take those back
with me and plant them,"
I said.
She said, "At least I
didn't bring
my clippers with me."

I laughed,
and laughed.
Her garden is well,
and so is she.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

ᎡᎷᏪᎢ ᎭᏫᎾ / In Silence / En silence / En silencio / Em silêncio

eluwei hawina
gesvase nigadv agadohvsdi
ale nigadv dideyodo.

ᎡᎷᏪᎢ ᎭᏫᎾ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏂᎦᏛ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ
ᎠᎴ ᏂᎦᏛ ᏗᏕᏲᏙ.

In silence
there is all wisdom
and all teaching.

En silence
il y a toute la sagesse
et tout l'enseignement.

En silencio
hay toda sabiduria
y toda la enseñanza.

Em silêncio
existe toda sabedoria
e todo ensino.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.

Just Another Naked Poet / Juste un autre poète nu / Solo otro poeta desnudo / Apenas mais um poeta nu

Just another naked poet,
there's nothing much to say.
Walt Whitman understood,
when his beard was also gray,
and I thank the good Lord
for my nudity every day,
it's a blessing in every way.

Juste un autre poète nu,
il n'y a rien à dire.
Walt Whitman a compris,
quand sa barbe était également grise,
et je remercie le bon Dieu
pour ma nudité tous les jours,
c'est une bénédiction à tous points de vue.

Solo otro poeta desnudo,
no hay mucho que decir.
Walt Whitman entendió,
cuando su barba también era gris,
y le agradezco al buen Señor
por mi desnudez todos los días,
es una bendición en todos los sentidos.

Apenas mais um poeta nu,
não há muito a dizer.
Walt Whitman entendeu,
quando a barba dele também era cinza,
e agradeço ao bom Senhor
pela minha nudez todos os dias,
é uma bênção em todos os sentidos.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

The Hermit Lights His Path / L'ermite éclaire son chemin / (+ es, pt, Udugi)

The hermit lights his path,
and does the same for others.

L'ermite éclaire son chemin,
et fait de même pour les autres.

El ermitaño ilumina su camino,
y hace lo mismo para los demás.

O eremita ilumina seu caminho,
e faz o mesmo para os outros.

uwasvlo atsvsdigisdase utseli usdi-nvnohine,
ale hnadvgase utloyine soidi nasgihai.

ᎤᏩᏒᎶ ᎠᏨᏍᏗᎩᏍᏓᏎ ᎤᏤᎵ ᎤᏍᏗ-ᏅᏃᎯᏁ,
ᎠᎴ ᎿᏛᎦᏎ ᎤᏠᏱᏁ ᏐᎢᏗ ᎾᏍᎩᎭᎢ.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.

He Is Non-different / Il n'est pas différent / El no es diferente / Ele não é diferente / ᎠᏨᏯᎢ Ꮭ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏄᏓᎴᎿᎥ

He is non-different
from nature
and the spirit
of nature.

Il n'est pas différent
de la nature
et l'esprit
de la nature.

El no es diferente
de la naturaleza
y el espíritu
de la naturaleza.

Ele não é diferente
da natureza
e o espírito
da natureza.

atsvyai tla gesvase nudalehnav
gvwao nidvlenvda
ale adanvdo
gvwao vhnai.

ᎠᏨᏯᎢ Ꮭ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏄᏓᎴᎿᎥ
ᎬᏩᎣ ᏂᏛᎴᏅᏓ
ᎠᎴ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ
ᎬᏩᎣ ᎥᎿᎢ.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.

He Lives on the Border / Il vit à la frontière / Vive en la frontera / Ele mora na fronteira

He lives on the border,
is of a different order,
as a bird takes flight
between darkness and light.

Il vit à la frontière,
est d'un ordre différent,
comme un oiseau son envol prend
entre l'obscurité et la lumière.

Vive en la frontera,
es de un orden diferente,
como un pájaro su vuelo emprende
entre oscuridad y luz.

Ele mora na fronteira,
é de uma ordem diferente,
como um pássaro voa
entre escuridão e luz.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

74,000 Visits and 2,000 Years (+fr, es, pt)

Just a few minutes ago, this poetry and photography blog passed the milestone of 74,000 visits. The visitors came from all over the world, and many have become loyal readers. Some came for the poetry (thank you!), some for the photography (again, thank you!), some for the Udugi language, and some for the Synoptic Problem, Hebrew Matthew, or other Biblical topic. You are all welcome here, and I thank you all.

Il y a quelques minutes à peine, ce blog de poésie et de photographie a franchi le cap des 74 000 visites. Les visiteurs venaient du monde entier et beaucoup sont devenus de fidèles lecteurs. Certains sont venus pour la poésie (merci!), Certains pour la photographie (encore une fois, merci!), Certains pour la langue Udugi, et certains pour le problème synoptique, l'évangile hébreu de Matthieu ou un autre sujet biblique. Vous êtes tous et toutes les bienvenu(e)s ici et je vous remercie toutes et tous.

Hace solo unos minutos, este blog de poesía y fotografía superó el hito de 74,000 visitas. Los visitantes vinieron de todas partes del mundo, y muchos se han convertido en leales lectores. Algunos vinieron por la poesía (¡gracias!), Algunos por la fotografía (¡otra vez, gracias!), Algunos por el idioma Udugi y otros por el problema sinóptico, el evangelio hebreo de Mateo u otro tema bíblico. Todxs son bienvenidxs aquí, y les agradezco a todxs.

Apenas alguns minutos atrás, este blog de poesia e fotografia ultrapassou o marco de 74.000 visitas. Os visitantes vieram de todo o mundo e muitos se tornaram leitores fiéis. Alguns vieram para a poesia (obrigado!), Outros para a fotografia (novamente, obrigado!), Outros para a língua udugi e outros para o problema sinóptico, o evangelho hebraico de Mateus ou outro tópico bíblico. Vocês são todos bem-vindos aqui, e agradeço a todos.

Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Bible Translation: Shifting Meanings, like Shifting Sands - Prov. 3:3

Here is part of Proverbs 3:3, according to the Vulgate (ca. 400 CE):
misericordia et veritas non te deserant

There is no doubt about the meaning of these words. They mean "May mercy and truth be not absent from you."

Moving ahead to the King James Version of 1611:
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee

The Douay - Challoner (Catholic) version of 1749-50:
Let not mercy and truth leave thee . . .

Reina Valera Revisada (1977):
Nunca se aparten de ti la misericordia y la verdad (may mercy and truth never leave you)

[So far, so good.]

Revised Standard Version (RSV), 1952:
Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you.

[Loyalty and faithfulness? What happened to "mercy and truth?"]

The Confraternity Version (Catholic, 1961):
Let not kindness and fidelity leave you.

The New International Version (1973-84):
Let love and faithfulness never leave you.

[Love and faithfulness?]

The New American Bible (Catholic, 1970):
Let not kindness and fidelity leave you . . .

[Kindness and fidelity?]

New American Standard Bible (NASB, 1960-75):
Let not kindness and truth leave you . . .

Tanakh "The Holy Scriptures" Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 1997:

The Hebrew text (p. 802), shows the correct words, חסד (in Biblical Hebrew this means "mercy") and אמת ("truth"), but the English on the facing page says "Let not loyal love and truth forsake thee." At least they got it half right.

Before I go any farther, I should say that there are many more such examples that I could use. The word חסד (mercy) appears no less than eight times in the Psalms, and in six of those cases it is paired with אמת (truth). Similarly, "mercy" appears no less than four times in Proverbs (also paired with "truth") and it is, so far as I know, always mistranslated in those modern translations. A favorite circumlocution is "lovingkindness," and that same circumlocution has even infected a recent translation of the Septuagint. Have we suddenly learned something about the Greek language that we didn't know before? I don't think so.

To be fair, part of the problem may be due to semantic drift in Modern Hebrew, where חסד is usually used to mean "grace, favor, righteousness, charity," rather than "mercy." But, where there is an imbalance of power, "mercy " is what we want. In any case, it would be absurd to apply Modern Hebrew meanings to a document written in Biblical Hebrew, thousands of years before the modern language existed.

To return to Saint Jerome's Vulgate, mentioned at the beginning of this little article, there is some question as to whether the words "misericordia et veritas" were translated from Hebrew, or from the Greek of the Septuagint, He claimed to be translating the Old Testament directly from Hebrew, and had Jewish informants to help him do that, but he may in some cases have translated from the Greek, where the word for "mercy" would be "eleos." Do we know for sure what it means? Yes, we do.

When I was a boy, and the Mass was still said in Latin, there was, in the part of the Mass called the Introit, a small litany in Greek. It was the only part of the older, Greek liturgy that had survived in the Latin Mass. It was called the Kyrie Eleison, which means "Lord, have mercy." I shall have to ask my friend Deborah Lorentz how this is handled when the Mass is said in English. I am sure that no one says, "Lord, have lovingkindness."

Text (except for Biblical quotations) © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Commentary on the Teaching of Rabbi Yeshua - II (The Antitheses)

We will now consider the Antitheses (Mt. 5:21-48). These are verses in which Jesus / Rabbi Yeshua compares his teaching to the traditional Jewish Law, that is, the Torah. It will be seen that he never abolishes the commandments of the Torah, but consistently "raises the bar," lifting them to a still higher ethical level.

Verses 21-24 ("On Murder") are not paralleled in either Luke or Mark. Again, Rabbi Yeshua's comparison of his teaching to that of the Torah may not have been of great interest to ethnikoi / goyim / Gentiles of that time. It is, however, of great interest to us. Here, Rabbi Yeshua goes well beyond the injunction of the Torah. Literally, the famous "Thou shalt not kill" of the Ten Commandments really means "you shall not murder." The verb used in Hebrew (both in the Old Testament and in Matthew) is רצח, which does not mean "to kill;" it means "to murder." In other words, many types of killing, including the institutionalized killing of nationalistic wars, are acceptable. But Rabbi Yeshua extends the prohibition to include unkindness and psychological abuse. Think about that.

I have written elsewhere about verses 25-26, which are paralleled in Luke, But the most important part of this section was not paralleled for the Gentiles.

In Mt. 5:27-30 ("On Adultery"), Rabbi Yeshua again raises the bar:

Again he said to them: You have heard what was said to those of long ago: You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you that everyone who sees a woman and covets her has already committed adultery with her in (his) heart.

In other words, we are not only responsible for our outward actions, but also for our thoughts and attitudes. By the time of Rabbi Yeshua, over a thousand years had passed since Moses and the Ten Commandments; some progress was to be expected. Then as now, women are not to be treated as sex objects. This, too, is worth thinking about.

Mt. 5:31-32 ("On Divorce"):

Again Jesus said to his disciples: You have heard what was said to those of long ago that everyone who leaves his wife and divorces [her] is to give her a bill of divorce.
And I say to you that everyone who leaves his wife is to give her a bill of divorce. But concerning adultery, he is the one who commits adultery and he who takes her commits adultery.

Here, Rabbi Yeshua places the onus on the men, who were the holders of power in his society. He does not say (as in canonical, Greek Matthew) "except on the ground of unchastity."


Mt. 5:33-37 ("On Swearing"):

Again you have heard what was said to those of long ago: You shall not swear by my name falsely, but you shall return to the Lord your oath.
But I say to you not to swear in vain in any matter, neither by heaven because it is the throne of God,
nor by earth because it is the footstool of his feet, nor by (Jerusalem) because it is the city of God,
nor by your head for you are not able to make one hair white or black.
But let your words be yes yes or no no. Everything in addition to this is evil.

What interests me here is that this passage was not paralleled by either Mark or Luke, presumably because Gentile culture had no particular sensitivity to use or misuse of the Divine name. Again, he goes farther than the Torah, while not contradicting it.


Mt. 5:38-42 ("On Retaliation"):

Again you have heard what is said in the Torah: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, do not repay evil for evil; but he who smites your right cheek provide for him the left.
He who wishes to oppose you in judgment and to rob your shirt, leave to him your garment.
He who asks you to go with him a thousand steps, go with him two thousand.
To him who asks from you give and from him who wishes to borrow from you do not hold back.

First of all, we need to clarify that the words of the Torah "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" represented a great advance in human society. Those words are not an exhortation to retaliation, but a limitation to retaliation. Before that, if someone from a camp across the river came across and raped one of your women, you would cross the river and wipe out their whole tribe. Here, though, we are instructed to practice nonviolence, More than a thousand years had passed from Moses to Yeshua, and from Yeshua to us, two thousand more. Some progress was, and is, to be expected.

Interestingly, the Hebrew version is clearer and less problematic than the Greek: "Do not repay evil for evil" makes a good deal more sense than "Do not resist one who is evil."


Mt. 5:43-48 ("On Love of One's Enemies"):

Again Jesus said to his disciples: You have heard what was said to those of long ago that you shall love the one who loves you and hate the one who hates you.
But I say to you, love your enemies and do good to the one who hates you and vexes you and pray for those who persecute you and oppress you,
in order that you might be sons of your father who is in heaven who causes his sun to shine on the good and evil and causes it to rain on the bad and the just.
If you love those who love you what is your reward? Do not the impudent love those who love them?
Be you (perfect) as your father is perfect.

We note that the canonical, Greek version says "tax collectors" instead of "the impudent." We also note that the Hebrew text, which was used in debates with Gentiles, leaves out verse 47: "And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" At some point, the verse must have been left out to avoid offending the Gentiles. It has also been omitted from the parallel in Luke, no doubt for the same reason.

In general I would say that these words speak for themselves, and it is a high calling, indeed.

Text (except for Biblical quotations) and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.

Commentary on the Teaching of Rabbi Yeshua - I (Defense of the Law)

First, I would like to focus on the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7), which seems to me to be the heart of Rabbi Yeshua's teaching. Since we have already spoken elsewhere about the Beatitudes, I would like to jump in at Matthew 5:17-20, Rabbi Yeshua's Defense of the Law. In Shem-Tob's Hebrew text (translated by George Howard), it goes like this:


At that time Jesus said to his disciples: Do not think that I came to annul the Torah, but to fulfill it.

Truly I say to you that until heaven and earth (depart) not one letter or dot shall be abolished from the Torah or the Prophets, because all will be fulfilled.

He who shall transgress one word of these commandments (and shall teach) others, shall be called a vain person (in the) kingdom of heaven; but whoever upholds and teaches [them] shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

At that time Jesus said to his disciples: Truly I say to you, if your righteousness is not greater than the Pharisees and the sages, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.


Alert readers will have noticed that the introductory phrase "At that time Jesus said to his disciples" (which appears twice in this citation) did not make it into canonical, Greek Matthew. It is important because it shows us something about Matthew's editorial method in forming this great sermon out of loose bits that he had collected.

Of even greater interest is the failure of both Mark and Luke to parallel these verses in their own Gospels. I can imagine several possible reasons for this, but, being a fan of Occam's Razor, I will choose this one, since it is the simplest: The Gospels of Luke and Mark were written for the "ethnikoi," the goyim," in the former case the Greek-speakers of the eastern Mediterranean, and in the latter case the young Christian community in Rome. Non-Jews had no great appetite for the Jewish Law, so the passage was left out of those other synoptic Gospels.

For the "notzrim," the Nazarenes, whom today we might (somewhat inaccurately) call Jewish Christians, the situation was different. They had only the greatest respect for the Law, and would have seen it as a prerequisite for any sort of spiritual validity.

It is really because of this divide in attitudes that we have more than a single Gospel today. Saint Paul, with his wider ambitions, needed to be "all things to all people," but Jesus / Yeshua, whose priority was the Jews, especially the "lost sheep from the House of Israel," did not. His audience was the Jews, and it is this ministry that the Gospel of Matthew reflects.

This difference of audience can be seen in differences of language. For example, "kingdom of heaven" is a typically Matthaean circumlocution, usually replaced by "kingdom of God" in Luke. But Jews do not use the Name lightly, and find it offensive when others do. The "ethnikoi," or "goyim," had no such compunction or restraint about such use. We also see that Mark needed to explain Jewish customs to his audience, whereas Matthew did not. It is clear that the Gospel of Matthew was written primarily for the Jews.



Text and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.