We must not drink or eat
Absolutely nothing to drink or eat, I repeat
Forget sex, there’s no holding hands
Even a peck on the cheek is banned
As for washing, bathing, or showering
Maybe a maybe, if one's odor is overpowering
All of this, and Yom Kippur is called a holiday
~ Easy to see why the whole day in synagogue we pray!
stripped bare
shivering
my faultlines exposed
I stand before Him
no one to defend me
my record speaks for itself
shame, far too mild a word
I stand before Him
knocking at His door, poor in deeds
asking for another year of life
not because I deserve it
but because He is gracious
merciful, patient, long-suffering
abundant in kindness and truth
The unique bleat of the ram’s horn (shofar) draws the crowds
like the wailing at the Temple’s western wall, its symbolism plays loud
Yet it is not the essence of the Jewish New Year
which is belonging –
to his own people, one must first connect
And if he will not, God too he will come to reject
The most popular newborn male’s name in Israel in 2025: Muhammad
I guess that’s what happens when 'Jews commit genocide'
They start giving their kids Moslem names, don’t they
~ Any other fraudulent claims you want to accuse Israel of today?
________________________________________________________________________
If you doubt the truth of line one, please, please fact-check to your
heart's delight.
To make sure that lines two and three are clear: They are written
as total satire; They are completely and unequivocally untrue!!
The population of Israeli Arabs - that's right: Israeli Arabs who are
full citizens - while only about 25% that of Jewish Israelis, is growing
so fast that Muhammad is the most popular name for new baby males
in the entire country! Amazing! (Some 'genocide,' eh??)
American cheese, if you please
Not Taiwanese or Japanese
Nothing Maltese or Vietnamese
American cheese, if you please
You say I must try Swiss Cheese
Lebanese and Nepalese
At Chanukah, ‘Monterey of Maccabees’
Farvoss?* American cheese, if you please *'What for?' (Yiddish)
But surely you’ll take a bite of Siamese
Portuguese, Pekinese or Paraguese
And how can you neglect Senegalese and Congolese
Not now. If you please, American cheese
Is our diner a narrow-minded provincial
Nisht!** ~ she’s old, a Jewish immigrant NYC election official **No! Not! (Yiddish)
In spite of these catastrophes,
holocausts and disasters;
the adverse calamities
and endless ever afters;
despite (or because) of these,
we shelter in one Temple,
spreading over seven seas,
we're God's own chosen people.
We know the heart of the stranger
for 190 years, slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt
backbreaking labor, spirit-sapping, 24/7
Within us beat loud the heart of the stranger
We take him with us, for all time, to the farthest reaches of the globe
a sacred bond between us and the Almighty
As He protects the stranger, so do we
As He promotes him, so must we
For what does God ask of us other than
to emulate Him
to walk in His ways
to do justice
___________________________________________________
Based on Deuteronomy, Chapter 26, esp. v. 11,
read in synagogues throughout the world Sat-
urday morning, August 29, 2026. The poem also
references other Biblical chapters as well as com-
mentaries thereto. ~ gw
My ancestors believed witches had magic
My ancestors worshiped a golden calf
I'm embarrassed, such folly is tragic
I shake my head and have to laugh.
Today between females and males there are no lines
We say we can surgically change either side
We can power our cities on wind turbines
And Israel's guilty of genocide.
We can always squeeze more from the rich
We know there's always money to burn
No hurdle, no obstacle, no hitch
40 trillion debt, no need for concern.
So we're so much smarter than those shepherds in the rocks
They worked for their money, thought nothing was free
Fought off invaders, and tended their flocks
Could they have been closer to reality?
~ It would have been better had man never been created
Now that he is here, let him examine his deeds. ~
Talmud Arachin 15a
Is man a sparkling diamond, the crown of Creation
worthy of the angels’ anticipation
In his first hours of existence, Adam disobeyed God's one rule
Our legacy today -- an abundance of fools
The snake tests every succeeding generation
master at disguising evil as dazzling innovation...
When we look in the mirror, what do we see
One who serves friends and family ~ or ‘selfish me’
A young girl, aged no more than ten,
recently orphaned in an unjust war,
on tiptoe, reaching up to a crevice
to tuck in her crumbled prayer.
She had been taught that God by any name,
Allah or Elohim, would answer all prayers.
Hoping that God’s heavenly scales
would favour her unselfish plea
against those that may wish her kind ill,
she reached the crevice and tucked in her prayer.
No one noticed her hijab slip or heard the wall wail.
Justice, justice you shall pursue*
a commandment Israel is devoted to
To establish courts in every town’s gates
civil and criminal disputes to debate
To examine the truth
to adhere to the law
Treating litigants with dignity
God’s Torah with awe
In this way, to be a light unto nations
compromise, not violence, for all generations
___________________________________________________
*Deuteronomy 16:20 -- This is in the third verse
of the portion of the Torah read in synagogues
this Sabbath.
For more than eighteen hundred years
Israel tried living in the Diaspora
Chased from one town to the next
Pogroms there were more and more of
Jews now live in their own land
Finally responding to pogroms
They’re accused of genocide
Don’t you dare fight back! says the world
~ Instead, commit suicide
This is the case of the boy who never was
Then we can’t extrapolate from nothing because
Nonexistence leads to non-existence
And you can’t have naissance by non-naissance
Seems a futile pursuit (remember the zoot suit?)
Zero + zero always equals zero, it can’t be any clearer
So, you must borrow from something (or Someone)
To create your own Frankenstein monster
To go from a test tube to the boob
From suckle to the boy that is
Or from coitus in the dark
To pushing a stroller in the park
We are partakers in life
And yes, we make things in life
But we have not created ex nihilo
Created from the point of zero
God decides how many sand grains
Come from Abraham’s loins
There is generational nepotism on God’s heart
But if someone doesn’t exist, he can’t be part
Why? Because of the laws of nature
Why didn’t God make machines
Instead of human beings?
When God sets molecules in motion
We should heed the notion
That all life (that has life) is a gift
We must wait until God creates
The boy (or girl) that never was
Por Que Pig asked why Jews do not pigs buy
Petunia answered him with a deep sigh
It’s because we aren’t kosher
Then, losing her composure
If Jesus Christ were only a rabbi...
How fast can I fall?
I have been stuck in limbo.
How hard will I land?
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Definition | What is Jewish in Poetry?
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