The Ultimate Shoe

Editor: I wrote this in memory of Rav Yisroel Ze'ev Gustman, ZY"A, in honor of his 19th Yahrzeit.


Shoes.
Fitted, protective, durable.
Chanoch crafts them, stitches them,
Two shoes, different,
Uniting in one purpose,
The purpose of the One.

Shoes.
Barriers, interruptions... profane.
Moshe undoes them, removes them,
Both shoes, deferent,
To cleave to his one purpose,
Holy, direct flow from the One.

Shoes.
Sturdy, barterable, necessary.
Yosef replaces them,
They will protect against the snakes and scorpions,
That had not been a concern... until now.
Shoes at least good for something,
Shoes can help sustain them,
Not like Yosef...

Shoes.
A craft, a source of sustenance.
Yochanan sells them, learns, teaches,
Independent, no worries.
Sin is forgotten, so that
The One purpose is forefront.

　
Shoes?
Not for the waters of the Danube.
No worth water-logged,
Nameless Jews shot,
Crossing like arrows to the Divine shores,
Shoes left for the needy... or cruel.

Shoes?
Not for the father with no appetite.
Young Meir wore them, he's been torn
From his father's arms, executed.
Trade them to feed others,
Comfort others.
Their memory seared into
A father's innermost mind.

Shoes?
Not for the father who couldn't cry.
Yechezkel found them in his home's rubble,
Held them, caressed them,
Wept for days, no thought of food or sleep.
Years of numbness, emptiness
In the Slingshot of Hell, expiated.
　
Shoes!
Our bodies are but shoes,
To carry our Souls through their earthly journey,
To lock in and blunt their awesome power.
To protect our Souls from the filth, the stones
That could ripple up to our loftiest aspects.

Master of the Universe, we sinned,
With the shoes You bestowed. So,
You removed many shoes,
For Your One purpose. The time has come,
Father, for the ultimate shoe:
Fitted, yet expanding;
Protective, yet penetrable;
Physical, yet eternal.
To soar, we'll need one shoe only...
The pair, L-rd, will be You and Us!