‘Family Tree’ (Written on 10/23/23)

Since October 7, 2023, I’ve written dozens of essays, five songs, and several poems — attempts to give voice to my feelings about the war against Israel, the disorientation of Jews in the galut, and those who steadfastly refuse to stay silent in the face of the ignorance, cowardice, and hatred directed at the Jewish State.

This poem, rather than comment on the burdens we carry, alludes instead to our strength — physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual.

“Family Tree”

I descend from
the tribe of long memory,
the clan of ineradicable recollection,
the minyan of unmitigated remembrance.
I am of the people whose dreams never die.

I walk astride

gorgeous sinners : resplendent priests
newborn prophets : long-limbed dancers
tearful poets: truth-telling judges
penitent mothers : dutiful fathers
scholarly women : life-giving saints
glorious princesses : steely warriors
wizened beggars : hovering angels
ebullient cherubim : soaring seraphs

I am brother to the horde,
sister to the blessed ones
who cannot and will not unburden themselves
from their eternally recollected destiny—

beholden to a Living God
who roars out for justice
as He leads us
to the next parting
of the new Red Sea.