CATEGORY
Poetry
The Oy of Cooking – a poem for Torah Portion Tzav
Rick Lupert - 0
And this is the law of the guilt offering.
It is a holy of holies.
Guilt is holy.
Such a part of the Jewish DNA
our Book has...
A Poem for Shabbat COVID-19
Eva Robbins - 0
I come here tonight, weary, bereft, filled with fear
From a week of terrifying unknowns ever so near,
A hidden yet overwhelming enemy abides
Throughout this nation...
Family Business – a poem for Torah Portion Vayikra
Rick Lupert - 0
And the kohen shall bring near to the altar,
and nip off its head
My mother’s maiden name was Cohen
so even though the job of...
Virtual Shabbat
Rick Lupert - 0
Thanks to the virus, all our friends and synagogues
are taking to the internet to beam Shabbat to us in the
privacy of our own homes...
Give Until They Ask You to Stop – a poem for Torah Portion Vayakhel-Pekuei
Rick Lupert - 0
Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the Holy.
So the people stopped bringing.
Can you imagine a time where...
Poem: Pandemic
Lynn Ungar - 0
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath —
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just...
Idol Chatter – a poem for Torah Portion Ki Tisa
Rick Lupert - 0
Come on! Make us gods that will go before us,
because this man Moses, who brought us up from
the land of Egypt we don't know...
On Not Observing Purim This Year
Sorry, Rabbis of the Talmud,
I didn’t dress up in a costume
Like I was supposed to,
Didn’t get so drunk
I couldn’t differentiate bless and curse
Like you said we should,
Didn’t...
Poem: In Praise of Shabbat Nachos
Not naches, Yiddish for the pride you have
when your kid ties his shoes for the first time
or stays sober for a year — but...
Poem: Who Am I?
Who Am I?
I remember,
Growing up and hearing stories of the great Jewish prophets
Moses, Noah, and Abraham
Their tales of my ancestors and their journeys that...
Poem: Mishpatim
Rick Lupert - 0
Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.
Exodus 23:19
I became a vegetarian spontaneously one day
in an Islands restaurant after reading a pamphlet
from a...
Poem: Yitro
Rick Lupert - 0
Autocorrect wanted to change
the title of this poem, from Yitro to Nitro
I almost didn’t change it back.
God, after all, descends from the mountain
amidst thunder,...
Poem: Beshalach
Rick Lupert - 0
Do you remember what it was like?
Walls of water taller than a Grand Canyon?
Our feet on dry land.
I have a vague memory of even...
Poem: Bo
Rick Lupert - 0
Locusts
A few months after we moved into our house
the ants felt bold enought to join us.
Their line from the back door to
the trash can,...
Poem: Va’eira
Rick Lupert - 0
I’m gonna harden my heart
I’m gonna swallow my tears
I’m gonna turn and leave you here
— Quarterflash
If you like miracles
tangible evidence of the supernatural
then this...
Poem: Shemot
Rick Lupert - 0
A new King rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
It is in our nature to be fruitful and multiply.
To grow strong when left...
Poem: Vayechi
Rick Lupert - 0
I revel in the fake spoiler.
We can’t start a single episode
of any television show without
me turning to my wife and
telling her
This is the episode...
Poem: Vayigash
Rick Lupert - 0
Like Joseph, I know what it’s like to
not have a father for decades.
Mine, hidden in the Egypt of Texas
pretending he was someone else
while I...
Every Human Face Is a Menorah
Two ears, two eyes, nose and mouth:
the seven gates
through which we perceive
the world
are also seven flames by which
we illuminate it,
like the seven-branched lamp
which stood...
Poem: Vayishlach
Rick Lupert - 0
Somewhere along the Jabbok River
which has a different name if you come
from the other side of the family
Jacob leaves half his family
to meet his...
Poem: Toldot
Rick Lupert - 0
Jacob and Esau
fighting in the womb
like kittens
one escapes, the other
hanging on by a foot.
Our first family
ladies and gentleman.
One grows hair while
their father grows blind.
One...
Chayei Sarah
Rick Lupert - 0
I
What is it with this this mortal impermanence?
You live and do things and the end is inevitable.
Like a story called life which begins with...
A Poem For Parsha Vayera
Rick Lupert - 0
I
A child is born.
They name him laughter.
Another child is sent away
as if blood doesn’t exist.
The original seeds
of a divided Jerusalem
are sown right here.
Hardly anyone...
Poem: Lech Lecha
Rick Lupert - 0
Consider the very first jew — Abraham.
Not even his name when the whole thing started.
Had a reputation. The kind of kid
who would destroy the...
Poem: Windburn
There’s something about Santa Anas
tobogganing down western slopes
that stirs the crazies down below.
Pyromaniacs get out their matches,
serial killers eye their knives,
acorns drop from old...
When the Untouchables Are Touched
At 4:37 a.m. on July 26, 2019, police responded to a call. A homeless woman was attacked while sleeping on the streets of Portland,...
Warts and All
Funny how the things that bothered
are the things I miss
jumbled pj’s in the closet
toothpaste landscape in the sink
feather tickle that raised goosebumps
honed to quills...
Tower of Power
Power drives and power cords
Power surges tranquilized by power strips
Power moves at hot-spot power breakfasts
Power bases pouncing on a power shift
PowerPoint presentations at high-power...
Reminders for the New Year
Rick Lupert - 0
Dip the apples in the honey,
not the other way around.
Your napkin supply and fingers
will thank you.
Practice blowing the shofar ahead of time
but, please, do...
Sting Like a Butterfly
My mother laid it out for me:
even changed into a butterfly
I’d still have a caterpillar’s face.
Geisha-fluttering in summer gardens
or blossom-shopping on a pastel breeze
I’d...
New Articles
News
U.S. and Bahrain Agree to MOU Saying Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism
On October 23, the United States and Bahrain signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that included a statement about anti-Zionism being anti-Semitism.
The MOU stated...
Israel
Israeli Arabs Remain Divided Over Normalization Deals with Gulf States
JNS — The Joint Arab List was alone in voting against the normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates in the Knesset, upsetting many...
Los Angeles
Report: Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes Rose 18% in LA County
According to the report, the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the county in 2019 was 93; in 2018, that number was 79. The report noted that the 93 instances is the largest number of anti-Semitic hate crimes that the county has recorded since 2009.
News
In a Striking Move, State Department Plans to Label 3 Large Human Rights Groups as Anti-Semitic
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In an unusual move, the State Department is planning to formally identify three large international human rights organizations as anti-Semitic, citing...
Israel
Amid Middle East Peace Deals, Israel and the US Reassert Commitment to Israel’s ‘Qualitative Military Edge’
(JTA) — The United States’ commitment to Israel’s “qualitative military edge” — or having the strongest armed forces in the Middle East — is...
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