SLIVER

This morning, as I pulled out of the driveway on the way to shul, I saw the thin sliver of a crescent moon riding in the eastern sky. It was the merest wisp of a moon, a curved white line in a sky that was already beginning to feel the illuminating rays of the dawning sun.

As a 21st century man, I can only imagine the wonder and awe with which our distant ancestors gazed upon our Natural Satellite, watching it wax and wane with the relentless progression of month and month.

I have the benefit of Modern Science.

I know that in one day, the Moon will be invisible, and that in fifteen days it will be full, a circle of white light lifting itself over the horizon just after sunset. I know that it shines by the reflected light of the Sun and that its phases are the result of changes in its position relative to Earth and Sun. I know that, in my own lifetime, men have walked upon its surface and returned home safely. I have seen chunks of it, close enough to touch with my own hand.

I know all this, and yet, when I see that silver sliver of light in the sky, all of my modernity peels away, and I am one with my ancestors...regarding this little piece of Creation with awe and wonderment.