Words of the Week

“What made me so distressed was not that SOCC had asked me about divestment, but that they had thought my Jewishness might make me a poor Senator. There are Jews who support divestment, there are Jews who do not take a position and there are Jews who are against divestment. My involvement in Hillel, my praying in synagogue, my love of the Hebrew language, my study of Talmud, my celebration of Rosh Hashanah and Hannukah and Purim and Passover have nothing to do with divestment.”

–Molly Horwitz, “Dear Stanford: Don’t Quiz Me on BDS Because I’m Jewish” (Forward)

Pre-Shabbat Jewish Lit Links

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • On Tablet: a thoughtful piece by Marjorie Ingall that pleads for a bit more subject-diversity in Jewish books for children.
  • This month’s Jewish Book Carnival is hosted over on Jodie Books. Check it out.
  • One of the links I discovered in the aforementioned Carnival: Deborah Kalb’s Q&A with Shulem Deen, whose memoir All Who Go Do Not Return I’m seeing mentioned everywhere and I’m looking forward to reading soon.
  • ICYMI: My midweek post on Practicing Writing had some things to say about Yom HaShoah.
  • Fig Tree Books published its second book this week: a re-issue of Meyer Levin’s classic Compulsion. Read Adam Kirsch’s take.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

    “But it’s Thursday,” you’re saying!

    That is correct. But since I will be in transit to Minneapolis tomorrow–and since many folks will be heading offline for the concluding weekend of Pesach fairly soon, I figured I’d post early this week.

  • I’m currently reading Michal Lemberger’s After Abel and Other Stories, an extraordinary collection that spotlights women’s experiences in the Bible. (If you liked The Red Tent, this book is for you.) Check out the author’s conversation with Deborah Kalb for some more info.
  • Check out the latest links on American Jewish Experience (AJE) over on the Fig Tree Books blog. (My own favorite is the five-year Jewish-holiday calendar from the URJ.)
  • Speaking of Fig Tree Books, this week I was a guest on The Next Best Book Club blog, touting three upcoming releases.
  • ICYMI: a Passover poem & its postscript.
  • Finally, you’ve got some time (but not much) if you’d like to submit poems for Poetry Super Highway’s 17th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Issue. Deadline is Friday. (NB: This is not a paying opportunity. But when it comes to Holocaust-related writing, I’m personally a lot more flexible on my own “must-be-paid-for-my-work” rule.)
  • See you all next week.

    A Passover Poem and Its Postscript

    DayenuThree years ago, Moment magazine and its poetry editor, Faye Moskowitz, did me the great honor of publishing my poem “Dayenu.” As I explained when the poem was shared again on RJ.org during Jewish Disability Awareness Month in 2014, “Dayenu” emerged from a family Seder during which I’d been especially moved by the participation of my young nephew, who as a toddler was diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech.

    Fast forward to 2015/5775. And listen to “our little boy” summarize the Passover story. He continues to inspire and impress me — as do his amazing therapists and teachers (not to mention his amazing Mommy!).

    Which reminds me: If you’re reading this and you happen to know S. “in real life,” please don’t mention this post. He can be rather camera/video-shy, and although his mom/my sister has approved my sharing this recording-via-iTalk, he isn’t aware that it exists. Thank you.

    (Oh, there’s a bonus—you get to hear Grandma and Grandpa speak/participate, too!)

    Words of the Week

    “God, Master of the Universe, please make this world safe for our people this year. Next year may we be in Jerusalem, but this year please take care of the Jews in our holy city and in so many other cities: in Marseilles and Copenhagen, in Argentina and Buenos Aires, Kansas and Seattle, Paris and Tunis, Sderot and Toulouse, Brussels and Donetsk. This Passover evening is a ‘night of vigilance’ [Exodus 12:42]. Please watch over us with divine care and compassion. Protect our sacred tombstones and graves from desecration. Protect our synagogues across the globe from Swastikas and shattering glass. Protect our innocent children on their day school playgrounds and our Jewish communal workers in embassies and community centers. Pour out Your wrath against the world’s injustices so that one day, You can pour out Your love. Ani Ma’amin — I believe that day will come. It is not here yet. Together, we will await that day. We will not wait passively. We will partner with you in a covenant to protect our people and remove them from harm’s way. And we will re-affirm in word and deed our daily commitment to justice, goodness and kindness.”

    From Dr. Erica Brown’s “Pour Out Your Love?” in The Jewish Week