Before One Reads the Torah

Before one reads the Torah, one must be
Alight with love of G-d, as though a flame
Took refuge in the temple of a heart*
Made pure by discipline and holy deeds.
If one read only thus, then one would see
The meaning of the meaning, as the art
Zealously sustains those souls who read
Vested in the glory of The Name.
All of life and death is here in this:
How much one grasps depends on who one is.

*For bar mitzvahs, read: "Resplendent found its refuge in a heart"