Poetry

Content type
Collection

Merle Feld

Both through her writing and in her work with Israeli-Palestinian dialogue groups, Merle Feld supported the difficult and delicate struggle to make peace in the Middle East.

Immigrant Mary Antin packs the house at the Waldorf Astoria.

December 8, 1912

Mary Antin writes, “I was born, I have lived, and I have been made over. Is it not time to write my life’s story?”

Marge Piercy

The poems in The Art of Blessing the Day were written over a 20-year period.

Blu Greenberg

My critique was two–pronged: what Orthodoxy and feminism could learn from each other.

Merle Feld

[I]t expresses the hope, the expectation even, that we will all come together to rejoice in our heritage...

Marcia Falk

I recited these blessings as though they had been written a couple of millennia ago by the rabbis, rather than the day before, by me.

V

V–World is the lives our mothers never got to live.

E.M. Broner

This is a narrative of a community that is not in isolation but reflects the polis of the time.

Can I Ask You a Question?

Jewesses With Attitude

Naomi Eisenberg’s spoken word poem Can I Ask You a Question? speaks for itself. Created in honor of her mother’s 25 years in the rabbinate, Naomi tackles questions of gender and equality in Judaism—and in our society at large.

Topics: Feminism, Rabbis, Poetry
Ruth in Boaz's Field by Julius Schnorr von Carlosfeld,  1828

An Un-Love Song

Dana

An Un-Love Song is written as a psalm to Shavuot, which is associated with one of the most beautiful, celebratory poems in history, the Song of Songs. However, it’s written in the style of a Lamentation, as a response to heartbreaking acts of aggression towards women and children in the misappropriated name of religion. The poem addresses current events against a backdrop of Biblical recounting, including the Mount Sinai experience, the sin of worshipping the golden calf, the subsequent breaking of the original Tablets, and the story of Ruth and Naomi. It is a decidedly feminist poem.

Topics: Shavuot, Poetry
Adele Margolis

Adele at 100

Ellen Steinbaum

What better way to end our chapter on poetry than with a poem by Ellen Steinbaum. Ellen's poem, "Adele at 100", is inspired by writer and teacher Adele Margolis. This particular poem is from her new book, Brightness Falls, which will be out in September.

Topics: Poetry
Voices of Jewish Poets Logo

Behind the Words: Reflections on the Poetry Process

Etta King Heisler

Each poem I write is about a person or relationship and the feelings and sensations I associate with him/her/them/it. Some explore connections with friends or family, while others dissect my relationship with God or with myself. I usually write in moments of clarity—not as a means of working through an idea or problem. Rather the poem is a record of a conclusion or discovery I have made, or perhaps poses a question for which I have decided to seek an answer.

Topics: Poetry
Wendy Drexler

I Write to Pay Attention

Wendy Drexler

Flannery O’Connor once said, “How do I know what I mean until I see what I’ve said?

Topics: Holocaust, Poetry
Waves Crashing on a Beach

Tracing My Ancestry Through Poetry

Michelle Provorny Cash

A few years after my grandfather passed away, my mother mentioned that for years he had refused to eat Spanish olives. I asked her why, and she said that he could trace his family history back to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and that this was his form of protest.

Topics: Poetry
Women of the Wall Prayer Service in Gan Miriam, Jerusalem

When a Woman Cannot Mourn

Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff

The Women of the Wall have been fighting for a woman’s right to pray at the Western Wall since 1988.

Today’s featured poet, Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff, responds to the latest challenge facing these women- the right to say Kaddish and mourn at the Western Wall.

Topics: Prayer, Poetry
Jaffa Streets

Travelogue for National Poetry Month

Jordyn Rozensky

Throughout the month of April we will be introducing you to a wide variety of Jewish poets and their poetry.

I’m honored to present the first poet in the series, Annie Jacobs.

Topics: Poetry
Dorothy Parker

Putting “All Her Eggs in One Bastard” –– Happy Birthday, Dorothy Parker!

Deborah Fineblum Raub

On August 22, 1893, a child was born who would make the world a decidedly wittier place.

"Butterfly Summers" Front Cover By Deborah Thompson

Celebrating Gloria Stuart

Deborah Thompson

It was fitting that Gloria was born on Independence Day. She was a firecracker: sharp, witty, energetic.

Topics: Painting, Family, Film, Poetry

Adrienne Rich, 1929 - 2012

Rich’s commitment to social justice that characterized her sustained engagement in the world emerged from the provocation and the aspiration that was her Jewishness.

Dyanna Loeb

Poetry from Dyanna Loeb, aka Dyna*Mic

Leah Berkenwald

Dyanna Loeb aka Dyna*Mic is an MC, poet and arts educator who started performing with Youth Speaks in 2001.

Topics: Poetry
Israeli Flag

Poetry, storytelling, and multiple truths on Israel's Independence Day

Judith Rosenbaum

As a historian, I spend a lot of time thinking about stories -- what stories we tell about ourselves and the world, what stories aren't told, how our narratives change depending on context, mood, timing.

Catching up with Vanessa Hidary, the Hebrew Mamita

Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez

Baruch Atah Adonai
Viva Puerto Rico Ha'olam
Hahmotzee , Fight The Power
Me'en Haaretz
AMEN.

Lesléa Newman

The "fine madness" of discovering Lesléa Newman

Chanel Dubofsky

During an otherwise unidentifiable undergraduate semester, I took a class called The Psychology of the Lesbian Experience.

Topics: Poetry

The Burlesque Poetess: A Jewess with "Artitude"

Leah Berkenwald

Jojo Lazar is a Boston-based multimedia visual and performance artist with a dizzying portfolio of projects. She puts her MFA in Poetry and love of vaudeville to work performing as “The Burlesque Poetess.” She plays the ukulele in the steam-crunk band, “Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys,” and with Meff in “The Tiny Instrument Revue” and in “WHY ARE THOSE GIRLS SO LOUD it’s ‘cos we’re jewish,” with fellow Jewish writer/performer Amy Macabre.

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