Heidelberg is framed by two mountains, the Heiligenberg (Holy Mountain) and the Koenigsstuhl (King's Seat) - and Parshat Re'eh talks about potential curses and blessings to be pronounced by the Israelite tribes on two opposite mountains, Mount Ebal (curses) and Mount Gerizim (blessings).
To speak of curses that can befall our lives
do we ascend the mountain
to be close to the heavens, to our fear
removed from valleys and from ghosts?
Do we go up because we need
another mountain
across the valley and the river
to absorb our words
to remind us
curses can be blessings
although we cannot see
the unrevealed in the revealed?
How do we know on which mountain
to build the altar, if scholars don’t?
And is that mountain cursed or blessed
that it must be the place
where we pronounce
what once befell our lives
in a most splendid land?
On this holy mountain, facing the king’s seat
how do I answer?