Thus he (the High Priest) shall purify the Temple of the impurities and sins of the Children of Israel, all their sins; and he shall do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which abides with them in the midst of their impurity.
—Leviticus 16:16; from the prescribed rite of Yom Kippur
hourly
as our trespasses
the washerwoman
purifier
of Israel’s sins
gathers up
the dirty laundry
from synagogue
pews and floors
soaping scrubbing
pure as a high priest’s tunic
at Yom Kippur end
cleansed
of sins declared
blood offering
and ash
one hour
amidst purgation
absent warning
or sign
she
laundry
and sin
in hand
prays too well
gathered up
by Gabriel
ascends angelic
far above
heaps of tallitot*
woven in chant
for the sin
that we have sinned . . .
on the day
after Israel’s
Great Fast.
*prayer shawls
