Sacred Days in a Year of Destruction
October 7, 2023 & its Aftermath
Introduction
When I wrote the first poem in this collection, I was not intending to write a poem for each of the principal biblical and rabbinic sacred days of the Jewish calendar. Sh’mini Atzeret Acheret written two days after the October 7 massacres, violations and abductions, was simply an expression of my horror, and my deep concern about the consequences of the retaliation it triggered.
There is a sixty-day gap in the calendar between the conclusion of the autumn sacred season and Chanukkah. By the time the Festival of Lights came around in the midst of the dark days of winter, most of the hostages remained in captivity, and there was no end in sight to the violence, with its devastating impact on non-combatants in Gaza. From that moment on, following the calendar and its regular milestones, became for me a way of focussing my anguish concerning the ongoing catastrophe.
This collection marks the sacred days in a year of destruction. Destruction continues. I offer this work as a testament to a devastating year, and as an expression of my commitment to support all efforts towards a different future for Israelis and Palestinians; a future of peace and justice, security and freedom, mutual cooperation and prosperity, for all those who live ‘between the river and the sea’.
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
November 2024 / Cheshvan 5785
Sh’mini Atzeret Acheret 5784
Sh’mini Atzeret
The ‘Eighth (day of)
Closure’
Concluding
The sacred season
The days set apart
For repairing ourselves
Our relationships
Our communities
Our world
And then
Rejoicing
In nature’s bounty.
But this year
In Israel
Sh’mini Atzeret
Acheret
‘Another’
Kind of closure
On that holy-day
Which was also
Shabbat
Monstrous
Desecration
As Hamas terrorists
Hearts-sealed-shut
Hands
Wielding guns
Knives
Stopped hearts
In their hundreds
Young people
Dancing
In the desert
Into dawn
Mowed down
Babies
Children
Families
As they woke
To a new day
Tortured
Murdered
Mutilated
Their homes set aflame.
Meanwhile
Girls and women
Raped
Dozens of lives
Wrenched away
Into captivity.
And now
Shabbat peace
Shattered
Into bloody fragments
The cycle of violence
Continues
With no end
In sight
Action
And reaction
Over and over
Never over?
Hope
In the possibility of
Another way
Justice
Peace
A future
For Israelis
For Palestinians
Overwhelmed.
Our challenge
As Jews
Muslims
Christians
Israelis
Palestinians
Humans
To replenish
Our resources
Of courage
Fortitude
Compassion
So that
Hope
Is never extinguished.
Chanukkah 5784
Kindling flames
Night after night
Light
Accumulating
against the
Darkness
Which can
Not be lightened
In burnt-out
Homes
In Southern Israel
Bereft of
Candle-lighters
Murdered
Stolen.
Meanwhile
Bombs
Exploding
Flames
Destroying
Homes
Lives
Neighbourhoods
In Gaza?
Accumulating
Destruction
Day after day
Night after night.
Hope
Eclipsed?
Or
Like the Sages of old
Can Israelis and Palestinians
Salvage
A light-igniting miracle
Out of the blistering realities of
War?
Tu Bishvat 5784
It is not yet Spring
But the sap is rising
The New Year
For Trees
Heralded
With almond blossom
Proclaiming
New life.
But
How
To rejoice in
The Earth’s
Renewal
At a time of
Destruction
When the Earth’s
Guardians
Wield weapons of
War
(Rather than
‘ploughshares’
And ‘pruning-hooks’)
And the land is
Laid waste
Along with its
Inhabitants?
The festival provides
An answer:
Plant
Saplings
For the sake of
The Future.
Purim 5784
Festival of Heroes
And Villains
Cheers
And Boos
A ‘Once-upon-a-time’ tale
With gruesome
Age-old
Hatred
At its heart
And
Revenge
Of the persecuted
As its
Antidote
The annual invitation
For the despised
To play
Turning the tables
On their enemies.
And so it was
For the generations
Who went before us
Victims of vicious
Anti-Semitism.
But
In 1994
Massacre
On Purim
The perpetrator
A West Bank settler
Gunned down
Twenty-nine Muslims
At Prayer
In the Mosque
At Hebron
(By the burial site of
Abraham
The ancestor of
Both Jews and Muslims)
The Book of Esther
Turned
Incendiary device
The once-persecuted
Turned
Persecutors
In the here and now.
And what of
Today?
Thirty years later
In the midst of
War
Instigated with
Massacre
Twelve hundred people
Murdered
In Southern Israel
Two hundred and fifty
Stolen away
In a single day
Retaliation
Day after day
Since
Has cost
Over thirty-one thousand
Civilian lives
In Gaza
(So far).
Are we able to grasp
That the Persecuted
Can also be
Persecutors?
When fantasy is
Lived out
All it takes is
Power.
Perhaps
As we continue to
Read the Book of Esther
Post-1994
And Post-2024
We might treat it
As a Cautionary tale?
Pesach 5784
Anyone
In southern Israel
Who found themselves
In the pathway
Of the depraved
Assailants
On October 7
A target
To be pursued
Trapped
Killed
Mutilated
Captured
Assaulted
Raped
Citizens
Migrant workers
Overseas visitors
Young people
Waking up
At a music festival
To a deadly dawn
Families
Their homes
Invaded
As they slept in their beds
Or sat at their breakfast tables
And then set ablaze
As in the pogroms
Visited on their grandparents
And great grandparents
Twelve hundred murdered
In a single day
Two hundred and fifty stolen away
A nation traumatized.
And then
Another nation
Caught
In the retaliatory backlash
Day after relentless day
Bombs raining down
On Gaza
Destroying
Lives
Homes
Neighbourhoods
Hospitals
Schools
Utilities
Hundreds of thousands
Displaced
Trapped
In a war zone
With all escape-routes
Barred
Denied
Sufficient medical aid
Food
Water
Punished
For the sins of leaders
Who do nothing
To protect them.
Sh’mini Atzeret Chanukkah
Christmas Tu Bishvat Purim
Ramadan Eid aI-Iftar Easter Pesach
Friday after Friday
Shabbat after Shabbat
Sunday after Sunday
Sacred days
Desecrated.
What questions will we ask
This Passover
Around our seder tables?
How will we respond?
Feeling overwhelmed
Muted
Let us leave
An empty space
On the seder plate
For our pain
Our anguish
And fill it
Only
With our tears.
Counting the Days 5784
Counting the days
In Israel
For the safe return of
The hostages
In Gaza
For the bombs
To stop falling
For sufficient aid
To get through
So many days
Since October 7
How many more?
The counting
Of the days of the Omer
Forty-nine days
From the second day of Pesach
Festival of
Freedom
To the eve of Shavuot
The Feast of
‘Weeks’
The ‘Day of First Fruits’
The first harvest
After the long months of
Winter
Seven anxious weeks
In ancient times
Lest the harvest
Failed
And then
Centuries later
After the Roman overlords
Defeated rebellion
Destroyed Jerusalem
And the Temple
The land
Laid waste
Those seven weeks
Consumed with
Anxiety
For the future
And the anguish of
Continuing occupation
Emperor Hadrian
Crushing the rabbis’ revolt
Lashing persecutions
Subjugation
Exile
And now
After
The depraved
Killings
Violations
Abductions
Of October 7
The relentless
Bombardment
Of Gaza
Its people
Displaced
Trapped
Starved
Lives destroyed
That strip of land
Laid waste
As if it is possible
To defeat
Murderous extremism
With extreme
Indiscriminate
Violence
The commencement of
The Omer counting
Marked
One hundred and ninety-nine days
Of destruction
How much longer?
We continue
To count
The days
Will we still be counting
When the seven weeks are
Complete?
When will the horror end?
Shavuot 5784
Revelation
In the wilderness
Seven short weeks
After the slaves’
Dash for Freedom.
The Past
Now Present
Almost
We have wandered
In the wilderness for
Eight long months
And like the rabble
Huddled
At the foot of
That mountain
We are overwhelmed by
Fire
Smoke
Lightning
Shuddering thunder
And the weight of
Dense cloud
Bearing down on us.
But this
Wilderness of
Now
Is not the site of Revelation
However long we wait
And we have been waiting
And waiting.
We have counted the days
Since Pesach
As well as the days before
Since the horrors of
Sh’mini Atzeret / Simchat Torah
And we continue
To count
As non-combatants
Continue
To die.
We are not waiting
For Revelation
(Or Divine Intervention)
But for something just as
Remote
For war to
End
For the hostages to
Come home
For Present
Catastrophe
To be surpassed
By a different
Future
Peace
Justice
Security
For both
Israel and Palestine.
Tishah B’Av 5784
From
Sh’mini Atzeret
Sacred day of
Closure
Ripped
Open
Torn
From the calendar
Desecrated by
Murder
Mutilation
Burning
Rape
Every violation
Lives seized for
Captivity
To
Months of
Anguish
And despair
Hostages
Trapped
In a warzone
Retaliation
Against the perpetrators
Visited also on
The other victims
Of their terror
Siege
Displacement
Starvation
Devastation
Broken bodies
Tens of thousands of lives
Destroyed.
And now
This moment of
Commemoration
Tishah B’Av
Remembrance of
Yesterday’s destructions
Overwhelmed
By the horrors of
Today.
So
When the
Materials of
Hope
Lie shattered
How do the
Anguished
Spirits crushed
Navigate
Pathways
To the Future
Through
A terrain of
Catastrophe
Past
And Present?
All we can do is
Crawl
On hands and knees
In the blasted landscape
Gather whatever
Fragments
We can discern
Through our
Tears
And piece them
Together
Into a
Patchwork
Declaration of
Intent
To re-member
Hope
Once again.
Elul 5784
Elul
Annual month of
Reflection
At year’s end
Before the cycle
Turns
Towards
Renewal.
Days for
Turning
Towards
Ourselves
And
Others
Examining
Our deeds
Repairing
Our relationships.
But
This year
The cycle’s
Seamless turning
Sabotaged by
Despair
Reflection
Spiked
With anguish
Overwhelmed by
Grief
Sullied
By scenes of
Suffering
Devastation
Death
Destruction
Breaching
The boundary
Of memory
Now
Ever-present.
The New Year
Approaches
But
Will the horrors of
This year
Ever end?
How do we salvage
Hope
From the morass of
Hopelessness?
By turning
Our gaze
Looking forward
Turning towards
One another
Finding new courage
In the solidarity of
Endeavour
Shared
The New Year
Awaits us
Beckoning those who
Choose Life
To step towards it
Together.
Rosh Ha-Shanah 5785
The calendar
Proclaims
‘Rosh Ha-Shanah’
But how can that be?
The old year
Has not ended
Hijacked by
Horror
The new year
Suspended
On the far side of
The abyss.
Wordless
My mind
Searches for
Sounds
The voices of
The shofar
The sharp blast of
T’ki’ah
The bellowing
Boom-boom-boom of
Sh’varim
The rapid-nine-fire of
T’ru’ah.
But
As my heartbeat quickens
And I try to
Listen to each
Particular inflection
All I can
Hear is a
Deafening
Tumult
The thunderous
Clamour of
War.
When will it cease?
The relentless
Tormenting
Question
We all share.
Hope
Almost abandoned
Let us take
Refuge in
The relentless
Turn of the year
With its
Promise of
Renewal.
Yom Kippur 5785
Yoma
‘The Day’
Out of the
Daylight of
Every day
A cave of a day
Glowing
In the white-blank
Glare
Of Eternity
Drawing us in
To its mysteries
Searching
Us out in its
Fierce gaze
A spotlight
Into our souls.
And yet
Even in the harsh
Light of scrutiny
Yoma
The Day
Shadowed
By the freight of
The past
The Day
Out of time
Burdened
By times
Furrowed in fear
And trembling
Trapped
In an attic
In a cellar
In a ghetto
Crammed with deportees
In a camp
Cloaked
With the soot
And stench
Of smoking chimneys
In bomb-shelters
When sirens roared
Enemy attack
In the midst of
The sacred rites.
And now
This past year
That began
In depravity
Massacre
Violation
On October 7
The call to
‘Choose Life!’
Hollowed out
By the
Howl of
Death
Destruction.
And
In the rock of The Day
That has survived
With all its burdens
Preserved by our
Fidelity
To its hallowed
Purpose
Cracks
Fissures
That can only
Be sealed
By our commitment
To choose
Life
Once again.
Sukkot 5785
Festival of ‘Tabernacles’
And ‘Ingathering’
Season of
Temporary
Shelters
Set up in fields
At harvest time
This year
Reaping
The harvest of
Twelve months of
Destruction.
Burnt-out
Homes in
Shattered
Kibbutzim
Village-islands of
Collective
Life
Labour
Democracy
Their
Surviving
Battered
Inhabitants
Scattered
To live
Temporarily
Elsewhere.
And
In another
Elsewhere
Flimsy tents
Temporary
Shelters
In the rubble
Ruined
Homes
Schools
Hospitals
Open to the elements
Their battered inhabitants
Wanderers
In the wilderness of
Concrete and dust
Carrying their lives
On their backs
As they bear the pain of
Endless
Displacement.
And all this
Devastation
Defying
The ever-present
Gaze of
The Eternal
Summoned
By our hands
Grasping
Palm-branch
Willow
Myrtle
Fragrant etrog
And waving
Nature’s bounty
In all directions
East
South
West
North
Heavenwards
And towards the
Gasping
Blasted
Earth.
Hoshanah Rabbah 5785
Israel is in need of
A ‘Great Salvation’
Hoshanah Rabbah.
Anna! Adonai, Hoshi’ah na!
Please! Eternal One, Save us!
Save Israel
From its extremist government
From:
Denial of the oppression of the Palestinians
Racism
Ultra-Nationalism
Fanaticism
Fascism
Messianism
Perpetual War.
And save us
From
Abrogating
Our responsibility
To speak out.
Simchat Torah 5785
‘We will dance again’
Defiance
From the pit of
Loss
Grief
Mourning
The night of
Dancing
Eclipsed
By a dawn of
Blood.
And now
The cycle has
Turned
One year on
Are we ready
To dance
Again?
The joy of Life
Does not yet
Lift our feet
Too much life
Lost
The impulse for Joy
Stolen
With the captives
Then
like them
Abandoned
In the long ache of
Waiting
Waiting.
But perhaps
Recalling our ancestors’
Long treks through
Every wilderness
We can
Rejoice
In the Torah
Rooted
Resilient
Through every raging
Uprooting storm
Grasp
Our ‘Tree of Life’
In our arms
And let our broken hearts
Beat out a dance?
Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights and Coexistence Organisations
A Land For All – Two States, One Homeland
Association for Civil Rights in Israel
B’Tselem
Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights
Breaking the Silence
Combatants for Peace
Comet-ME
Emek Shaveh
HaMoked: Centre for the Defence of the Individual
Haqel – In Defence of Human Rights
Itach-Maaki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice
Ir Amim
Jordan Valley Activists
Kerem Navot
Machshom Watch
Other Voice
Parents Against Child Detention
Parents Circle Bereaved Families Forum
Physicians for Human Rights
Psychoactive
Rabbis for Human Rights
Re’acha Kamocha
Roots/Shorashim/Jadur
Social Workers for Welfare and Peace
The School for Peace
(in the Jewish-Christian-Muslim village, Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom, ‘Oasis of Peace’)
StandingTogether/Omdim Beyachad/Naqif Ma’an
Torat Tzedek
Women Wage Peace
Yesh Din
Zazim – Community Action
Zochrot