In the annals of unlikely pairings
Were Bennett Hogg and Joshua Hamm,
The former, a tailor's son with religious ennui,
But also terrifying visions
Of needles and bobbins,
Who eventually found spiritual solace
And then priestly ordination, as a rabbi.
And the latter, who went from lead singer
For Millennium Trayf, a rock band,
Who also dragged himself 
To the spiritual mountaintop,
Earning his cantorial stripes with a masters
In various renditions of familiar
Ashkenazic melodies.
Both, strangers to one another,
Were thrown together in a lottery
Known as First Pulpit,
Making sure that all synagogues,
No matter how remote,
Were clerically rostered...in this case
The Stu Valley Hebrew Center,
Ministering to the needs of a small
Midwestern kosher meat packing town.