In the Rebbe’s Empty Chair

Joshua Bolton
7 min readFeb 7, 2021
Credit: Rabbi Zac Kamenetz

Tending to my demons in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Dazed from too much coffee in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Inevitable assimilation in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Chewing on a dog bone in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Fixing breakfast for the family in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Needing validation from others in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Slowly learning to cope in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Anxious all weekend in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Unable to nap in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hi-fiving Larry Bird in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Burning all bridges in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Prostrating on the graves of saints in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Banality of banality in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Living for yesterday in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Approaching Jesus in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Trouble with the WIFI in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Whispering with Ernst Bloch in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Feeling deeply depressed in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Tired of myself in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Not expecting redemption in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Materialistic desires in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Stealing stones from beaches in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Blowing out Shabbos candles in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Seeing the Rebbe’s face in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Can you add me as a friend in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Life beside the seashore in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Staring directly into the sun in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Scratching the neck of a cat in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Choked on tears in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Shopping on Amazon in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Arranging permutations in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Barely conscious in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Bivouacking through pristine nature in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Obtaining massive files of data in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Fifteen years of hard drinking in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Composting my heart in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Looking through a neighbor’s little window in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Much ado about nothing in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Reading leftist theory in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Studying maps of Virginia in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Winning Victory Royale in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Screaming in Russian in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Weekly therapy in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Touching the erotic Torah in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Erasure of small self in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Blowing my gasket in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Jamming my pinky in a socket in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Humming the Rebbe’s melancholic songs in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Pretending to be myself in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Wearing a free sweatshirt in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Chewing off my nails in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Free from all that ails in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Having to pee badly in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Regret and shame in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Shouting empty signifiers in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Holding hands with Rav Shagar in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Putrid flatulence in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Spending cash on Shabbos in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hopeful about the future in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Reaching 5,000 followers in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Approaching irrelevance in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Trying to get by in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Everything comes pouring out in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Birds shit on my head in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Tripping on a stone in Tiberias in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Changing of the guard in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

The elders are speaking in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Mailing my book to influencers in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Inevitable and dark sleep in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Intersectionality in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Ideological purity in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Whiteness and anger in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

My teenage diaries in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Dressing as a woman in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Cathedral in time in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

It is good to die for one’s country in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Totally encapsulated in my bubble in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Recalling my old friends in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Emptiness in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Sitting in a chair in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Mouth full of garbage in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Smoothie for a year in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Fist fights in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hidden psychological structures in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Managing but not healing in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Can anybody help me in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Marriage in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hot shower in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Stewardship of donors in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Performance art in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Text messages in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Pursued by to-dos in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Addicted to screens in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Going behind the veil in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Nothing behind the curtain in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Piecing together the broken tablets in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Familial discord in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Totally secular in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Amounting to nothing in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Give me a shot, bro, in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Honey, can you see me in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Everyone is worried about you in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Poetic consolation in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

I need it, I want it in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Wait, I’m still here in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

That was insane in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

I’m finally happy in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Surrender in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Acceptance and faith in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

My sins were part of the plan in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

24-hour news cycle in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Holiday-themed coffee drinks in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Life is full of mystery in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Drive carefully in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Semantics in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Pondering the infinite in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hishtapchut hanefesh in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Embracing optimism, in spite of everything, in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Staring off blankly in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Loss of my father in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Suffering imposter syndrome in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Negotiating my salary in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Saying too much in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Disassociation in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Tidying up bookshelves in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Feeling pressured to speak in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Losing feeling in my legs in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

A poor gift giver in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

A bearded performer in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Stealing to survive in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Orthodox bickering on social media in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Having to wear sneakers in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Injuries to my self-confidence in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Transported to fin de siècle Paris in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Literally no one cares in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Left alone and at peace in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Social justice posturing in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Deleting lines from the poem in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hand in my pants in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Giving in to temptation in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Holding contradictions in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Eating bagels with abandon in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Reading TEYOYEYU in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Gumballs for eons in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

The burden of having to make sense in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Delaying gratification in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Laughing at the misfortunes of others in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

I’m not trying to get into it in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Copy and paste in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

You can delete the game if you want in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

No home in this world in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Letters to the editor in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Who is the master of this palace in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Merit of the ancestors in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Dome of the Rock in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Dominant genetics in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Beware everything in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Heavy metal parking lot in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hashem sits quietly in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Blindfolded and abducted in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Beaten by thugs in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Raised by chimpanzees in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Knitting shoes in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Crossing narrow bridges in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Brothers from a different mother in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Family meeting in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Developing a theory of everything in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

My BB gun cocked in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Oodles of thoughts in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Anonymous suggestions in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Adult gestures in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Detritus of modernity in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Inevitable assimilation in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Final supper of tuna fish sandwich in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Freezing my ass off in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

“Chair” in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Children’s laughter in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Settling in for an hour of Youtube in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Hummus and chips in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Relinquishing life’s purpose in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Keeping busy in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Staying out of my head in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Of service to others in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Living life on life’s terms in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Requiring translation in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Buried beneath obligations in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Will there be tomorrow in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Washing my mouth with soap in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Willing myself to speak in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Visiting the Messiah in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Emerging from adolescence in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Talking with myself in a mirror in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

Deus ex machina in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

My life is entirely contained in the Rebbe’s empty chair.

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Joshua Bolton

Rabbi, Author, Executive Director at Brown RISD Hillel