Bruce Black

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Dec 4, 2024, 9:53 PM

How much is enough?

Yes, we suffered a terrible blow, but Palestinians are people, too, though all I hear are those of us who keep saying no, they're our enemies, look at what they did to us. And, yes, that's right, I understand, look at October 7th. But it's wrong, too, because it...

Nov 2, 2024, 3:02 AM

Peace is a mirage no one seems able to grasp

We’re here together on this planet earth for the briefest of time. Those we love are gone in the blink of an eye, and time is running out. Peace is a mirage no one seems able to grasp. How long will it take for us to learn to stop waging...

Oct 7, 2024, 9:03 PM

The posters in the window

The posters in the window have faded after a year. Each one, a watercolor portrait of one of the hostages, was painted by a local artist, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, in the hope the hostages would become survivors, too. Across...

Oct 1, 2024, 6:20 PM

Let there be an ocean of peace

It won’t be long now until Jews around the world gather together to observe Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Ten Days of Awe, holy days that will be filled with prayers of repentance, prayers for the safe return...

Sep 24, 2024, 6:24 PM

During the Shabbat morning prayer service this past weekend, I sat in our synagogue and found myself uttering prayers whose words seemed to have lost their meaning. I recited the words on the pages of my siddur, and my voice...

Sep 6, 2024, 5:06 PM

Keeping hope alive

“Hope is mandatory.” -- Rachel Goldberg-Polin In this moment of grief, as I mourn with the rest of the Jewish community, I still want to keep hope alive, to hold on to the hope that I found in my community...

Aug 19, 2024, 8:08 PM

For the sake of peace

Each time another another bomb falls or drone strikes in the Middle East, I cringe, worried over who will live and who will die, who will be injured in the explosion and who will be lucky enough to escape...

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About Me

Bruce Black is editorial director of The Jewish Writing Project. His poetry and personal essays have appeared in numerous publications, including Write-Haus, Soul-Lit, The BeZine, Bearings, Super Poetry Highway, Poetica, Lehrhaus, Atherton Review, Elephant Journal, Tiferet, Hevria, Jewthink, The Jewish Literary Journal, The Reform Jewish Quarterly, Mindbodygreen, and Chicken Soup for the Soul.