As part of our 'Urgent Voices' series, in which key jewish cultural figures respond to the continuing crisis following the 7 October attacks, we hear from a handful of Hebrew poets…
Writing Listening for God in Torah and Creation was the anchor of my sanity and solace during the lockdown and Covid years. I felt in part like the figure in Chagall’s Solitude, clasping the Torah as his strength and music…
“Are you ready for Christmas?” This is the standard question you get at this time of year in Ireland. My answer, over the 35 years I’ve lived here, has varied from “Oh yes, nearly” to “I don’t do Christmas, I’m Jewish” to “Ah sure, you know yourself…” whilst trailing off in the hope they don't…
The most familiar sound during wartime in Israel is the blaring of sirens warning of incoming rockets. When I moved to New York City, I heard ambulance sirens and they made me think of Israel. Strange how such a frightening sound can feel nostalgic. Sirens remind me of home…
I am a Jew in London, watching from afar what is happening to close friends and family in Israel. Where do I stand? I am outside, trying to follow what is happening over there. I am in a city and fearful of the chants on the streets here. I am caught up in these dark times, but uncertain…
As I write this, fireworks explode in nearby gardens while my cat hides behind the sofa. Some 3,000 miles away, there are larger explosions, far more terrifying. There seems no end to the escalation of violence, while antisemitic attacks have increased everywhere. In London, graffiti is daubed…
I am a poet, not a politician. I am an activist, not a strategist. Yet here I am, feeling the need to write this piece as a way getting to grips with an impossible problem. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to take part in a reading as part of the Tsitsit Jewish Fringe Festival. Poet…
I am folding the washing/ stepping over Lego strewn by the grandboys/thinking about egg sandwich for lunch/ But I am in Sderot/ remembering a bomb shelter by the bus stop we walked past/remembering Shula the peacenik/ Shula from the kibbutz next to Gaza/who took her…
Now close your eyes and try to stop being angry. Try to stop raging at all those who deserve your righteous fury. Close your eyes and allow yourself, just for a moment, to simply feel the pain. To hesitate. To be confused. To feel sorrow. Remorse. You still have your whole life to spend…