Rabbi Yossi says, “Ben David (i.e. Mashiach) will not arrive until all of the neshamot (souls) have been ‘finished’ from the guf (body).” (Talmud Nidah 13:b)

The anvil upon which
You hammer out souls
from Your royal treasury
let loose a spark
which lit up our darkness
for a brief moment.

 

Before it was fanned
into a flame
it had already burned out
leaving us again
in the darkness
of uncertainty.

 

Our only consolation
was the echo of Torah
learned with an angel
and the step closer
it brought us to coming
home.