Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Yoma 67: The Crimson Thread

jyungar June 18, 2021

For the source text click/tap here: Yoma 67

To download, click/tap here: PDF

The focus of the sixth perek of Massekhet Yoma has been the se’ir ha-mishtale’ah – the scapegoat – which is not sacrificed in the Temple like a regular korban but is taken to the desert where it metaphorically takes the sins of the Jewish people with it to its death. This process, which is a central part of the Yom Kippur service, is not explained by the Torah.

"At one point in the procedure, the red thread tied to the Azazel goat was removed from its head, torn in half, and one part tied again onto its horns. At the exact moment that the Jews were forgiven, both halves of the thread turned white. (Yoma 67a)"

We explore the poetry of Michael O'Siadhail who appropriates the image of the crimson thread as one of his love for his Parkinsonian wife.

“As I remain your lover come what may— / One crimson thread until the crimson end.”

The image of the “crimson thread” derives from the Song of Songs (4:3), the poet for example, uses it in his epigraph to Love Life:

“Your lips are like a crimson thread / and your mouth is lovely….”

ג כְּחוּט הַשָּׁנִי שִׂפְתוֹתַיִךְ, וּמִדְבָּרֵךְ נָאוֶה; כְּפֶלַח הָרִמּוֹן רַקָּתֵךְ, מִבַּעַד לְצַמָּתֵךְ.

3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy mouth is comely; thy temples are like a pomegranate split open behind thy veil.

In One Crimson Thread, the poet portrays her states of mind and feeling, his adjustments to her changing personality, and his brokenness at her death. At the heart of this sequence, the poems courageously show how the couple’s deep-rooted love searches to overcome her illness, their fear and dread, and their eventual loss. As in its incarnations in Love Life, the image of the sonnet sequence’s title demonstrates that love will connect these lovers by an unbreakable “crimson thread.” The poet writes: “I hush you in my arms to tell you how / This suffering still sounds our depths of love.”

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​