WHERE WILL THIS FLOWER GROW?

The Rose of Sharon

By Maurice Croll, M.D.

The Rose of Sharon
Native flower of Israel
Tender morsel of the earth's
Free giving nourishment
of life and love
That grows only in
Eretz Yisrael
Planted in rich soil.
It grows, flourishing and spreads
Across the battle-torn
beleagured land
In the valley and plane
of Sharon.

The earth gave origin to all
So it was that here in
Israel
That this fantastic eternal
beauty fully colored
native son
Soaked in the blood of
Their brave warriors,
Defending their covenant
assigned land
From whence they sprung
Still are there to be seen
by all the world
A holy flower in a
holy Biblical land.
A forerunner, truly a
representative
Resembling in its course
The tragic history of
the Israeli peoples.

Fragile to the wind it was
scattering its five broad
petal leaflets
Back to its native origin,
the earth beneath it..

Tall, proud, erect, straight up
it grew.
Holding high its head
As it looked over toward
Jerusalem.
Its shoulders were not
Huddled inward, beaten down
As it grew among its fellows.

Only in deep reverence did
Its head arch downward somewhat
to pay due homage
To the defenders of Israel

slumbering safely in the
welcome earth below.

Five broad, overlapping, reddish
flowered petals
Branched out from the center
stalk
Each contributing in unison
one solid integral unit
Mush as the five books
of our beloved Thrah.

The flowers that grow on the
Surrounding hills and vales
Look down with vicious hate
Upon the exquisite flowers
of the Sharon Valley
That wax in abundance
all over this lovely
oasis of love
in this chosen land
of Israel.

Year by year, since the
Time of King Solomon
This tenacious flower
doth grow and grow
far and wide,
All over the country side
Far beyond its native
borders.
The flowers of pure hate
In the surrounding country
Shriveled up, decayed, broke
of and blew away,
Deprived of their nourishment
of love
to self destruct.

The Sharon Valley and surrounding
planes
Bristle with vast areas
of roses
That lay like a blanket
of enduring love
Wavering like a single unit
Undulating in successive waves
To cover the sons and daughters
Who defended their beloved land
unto their death.

In Biblical times, the hordes of
Invaders in successive invasions with
Their fierce conquests trampled

Brutally upon this entire valley
and plane,
Crushing these living, breathing
flowers of love
To the ground underneath
their spikes of steel.
They did not know in trying
Th make this eternal flower
extinct.
They unknowingly scattered the
Productive seeds in the
welcome earth
To give a new life in season.
They could not be destroyed
Symbolic of the resistant
enduring rebound.

Typical of the Israelis the
following year, these lovely
Roses with love
in every petal
Grew in more abundance,
Taller and stronger.
They would never be
conquered.

THE
SWISH
NEWS

Serving Detroit's Metropolitan
Jewish Community
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EDITOR:

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One can hope that in due
time
The neighboring foreign lands
Will gain in wisdom and
perhaps understanding
To grow their own
native flowers
And fill them with
Love and righteousness
In place of exporting large
quantities of hate and
terror,
Even toward their fellow Arabs.

Here in Israel
the land of the covenant,
the soil of love
Will grow in abundance
and continue to give
life
To its heartbeat — Jerusalem,
And to the symbol of Israel,
the beautiful Rose
of Sharon,
To continue to cast its beauty
upon the Land of Israel
For all the world to see
And come to smell the roses.

ADDENDUM: The Rose of Sharon is a Biblical flower with a long history and nativity unto Israel. As such, it is much
revered by the Israelis and the Jews of the Diaspora.

It is mentioned in King Solomon's "Scing of Songs" chapter two: (2-1) as follows:

"They grew in the valley and the plane of Sharon, a fertile stretch of land ten miles from Jerusalem
which has fed men and animals for countless ages."

These are the words of Bertha Safford Vester in her book, "Flowers of the Holy Land". She lived eighty
years in the Holy Land. She was a magnificent woman and she hand painted and described twenty-five
flowers; prominent in it was a description of the Rose of Sharon.

In 1968, my wife, Eva, and I flew to Israel. A dream realized. I stood at the Wailing Wall with my
brothers and said a Kaddish for my dear beloved Hebrew scholar, my father, Reb Hillel. Never had my
heart known such joy. I could scarce contain it all.

We toured all of Israel and ended up in Jerusalem. I went directly to the eye clinic to visit my good
friend, Dr. Michaelson, who put me to work in the eye clinic. What utter joy.

In a few instances, I took unto me what is commonly referred as "poetic license." I did it because I
needed it because it fitted in so very well with my basic concepts.

It is a forgivable privilege and hope you will overlook it while you enjoy my heartfelt poem.

Maurice Croll, M.D.

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