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in bed
cold beads
of sweat
catch me
still in the snare
of my nightmare
back at the home
of my childhood
walking past
the front door
realizing
it wasn’t quite
completely closed
Most of the soldiers in my company are not religious. As a commander, I have a squad of soldiers working close to me – a driver, someone in charge of communications, and a navigator. They are not religious, but they know that I’m strict about putting on tefillin every day. Even if I don’t have time to daven, I always put on tefillin – every single day.
the July 4th rat a tat tat
fireworks finale sounds
no holiday hotdogs here
only a fusillade of bullets
our porch door
creaking
no longer a sign
of lazy summer
now suspicion
is all it brings
“Are you a Zionist?” they asked,
their faces covered in keffiyehs.
On their chessboard hate was masked.
She stood alone. She had no fear.
“No Zionist can come inside
the library. Go back to Poland.”
It has been nearly two weeks.
Somehow time has managed to crawl by and speed past.
We have been living in a weird alternate reality.
There isn’t any routine. School is still not functional.
Rockets are still falling. My kids discuss how many ‘booms’ they have heard each day.
Us with our wandering stars and souls, Jews,
Candles, kippahs and torah scrolls, Jews.
The only things we have, Hashem and Jerusalem,
Our ancient walls have been ruined again, Jews.
I am a Jew.
Always have been, always will be.
There was never a moment in my life that I can remember that I had to be taught that, or have it explained to me.
There was never a moment in which I had to wonder, am I an American first or a Jew first? I mean, I knew I was both, but Jew would definitely be the first answer to the question of who I am.
There was never a moment in which I questioned that.
Simchat Torah is every Jewish person’s favorite holiday, you can’t convince me otherwise. Feasts that would put the Beauty and the Beast’s feast to shame, uncoordinated dances in synagogues and living up to true joy. It’s
As a student in Montreal: Dear Reader, The progression of emotions since October 7th, as a Jewish woman, has included that of defeat and fear to pride and empowerment, and a whole lot intertwined in
26th October, 2023 I thinkWe got comfortable in this worldI thoughtI saw the world settle into a beautiful placeDangers far away, unreachableUntouchableI thought of it like a cliff hovering over deadly, thrashing waves on top of