FALSE GODS
I.
As it is said,
“…a woman came with a handful of fine flour to offer to Teras’ idols, which were now in the charge of Abraham. He took a stick and broke all the images except the
largest one, in the hand of which he placed the stick which had worked this wholesale destruction.”
Bereishit Rabbah
My people know false gods when they see them
Pretenders to the throne who abuse their power
Who whore and lie and steal from their subjects
Who surround themselves with hypocrites and fools
Flatterers and lackeys hoping to cash in
Who, though secretly contemptuous
Grovel and bow
Double-tongued and self-deceiving…
They fill the court of the mad king
My people know false gods when they see them
Narcissists and sociopaths
Who require you to flatter
Who demand obedience, loyalty and praise
Who never ask forgiveness no matter how guilty
Who think they are ahead of God
Ahead of Torah
Ahead of those they claim to serve
Who place themselves upon a pedestal
They will not relinquish peacefully
After 4,000 years
My people know false gods when they see them
Preening tyrants who require us to cheer
To glorify “conquests” no matter how gained
To exalt their “deals”
The hugeness of their tough but beautiful deals
Which nobody else in the world could have made
After 4,000 years
My people know false gods when they see them
Emperors and czars who require us to fawn
To gaze in rapture upon their glorious achievements
Their pyramids and hotels
Country clubs and walls
Their very tough but beautiful walls
To bow down before their numbers
Never in history have there been such numbers
Incredible numbers
Ratings
Crowds
Not to mention the thousands who died while the mad king dithered
After 4,000 years
My people know false gods when they see them
Most of my people
Most of the time
Of course there will always be some
Who bow down to idols
Who worship the calf that Moses burnt up