In the garden there’s a tree planted by someone who only imagined me.
What love, what vision.
I marvel at the gift.
No fruit could be sweeter than this.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
As my people went from land to land, something passed from hand to hand, and it isn’t just eh words and stories.
Of the ancient laws and golden glories, it’s the way we study the book we study, it’s the way we study the way.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
Today my life is full of choice because a young man raised his voice.
Because a young girl took a chance, I am freedom’s inheritance.
Years ago they crossed the sea and they made a life that’s come to me.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me so in the garden I’ll plant a seed, a tree of life for you to read.
The fruit will ripen in the sun.
The words will sound when I am gone.
These are the things I pass along, the fruit, the book and the song.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
-Doug Cotler

This reading is also found in JewBelong sections:
Bar and Bat Mitzvah
Bris
Death and Mourning