David and Jonathan

Two Men, Gayatri Manchanda

Two scholars meet by night on the Temple steps.
The shadows, cold and moistness, and the moon,
no stars in sight, clouds gray and high, and soon
to sing, to study Torah, and to commune
as soul to soul will go the two adepts.

The one has waited but not long,
for they had planned the time beforehand.
Calmly does he lean against a wall,
his hands and face are clean, his head is covered,
in the dark is barely seen his outlined figure
by his yearning friend.

The other having long one like the first expected
sees, blinded by his hope, him standing there,
the brother and the lover of his prayer
to God, with whom to mount the sacred stair
of pure devotion, which by himself
he had neglected.

They meet.
The one his hand his comrade’s shoulder presses,
the other greets him,
on his neck he shapes a kiss, and then as arms embrace
they speak of this fond partnership in Torah,
song, and bliss,
while walking to the Temple’s stark recesses.

The two, for warmth reclining close and under
one heavy blanket like a looming prayer shawl,
cite scriptures, feeding on the beauty of it all,
and praise their Lord for his restraining call,
now and again touch eyes or hands in wonder.

Oh, for the true, redeeming message that comes through
such witnesses in his victorious love
as in his word so said or sung can move!

Oh, for the ecstasies that one cannot tell of
that might arise in lovers like these two!

Get thee a comrade: This teaches that a man should get a comrade for himself, to eat with him, drink with him, study Scripture with him, study Mishna with him, sleep with him, and reveal to him all his secrets, the secrets of the Torah and the secrets of worldly things.

— Abot de Rabbi Natan, Version A
x