The Purim Parade

 

It’s the Purim Parade!

When all us kids in Hebrew school

Dress up like the story

In costumes and win  prizes!

We have six Esthers

She’s a Jewish girl in ancient Persia,

She ‘s very smart and brave and beautiful

And she marries the King which kinda sucks  

There are two Vashtis,

That’s the wife of the King, who leaves him because he’s creepy,

She’s pretty, too.

There’s four Mordecais,

He’s Esther’s uncle,  

He’s very smart and brave and handsome,

He wears a robe.

We have two Kings

He’s the king of Persia

(With a long name I can’t  pronounce

I just call him The King),

He is stupid and ugly, 

So he has a big crown and funny wig.

There’s even two Haman’s!

Haman is mean and cruel,

He wants to kill all the Jews!

Spoiler Alert, we kill him instead.

He’s the bad guy

So he wears a funny mustache and silly make up

Because we hate him.

Every year Bobby  or one of his brothers is Haman.

Bobby likes it when we boo.

I used to be Esther,

And I always won

Because I have a tiara.

My mom says everybody should have a tiara.

Esther is pretty butboring so this year I’m Vashti.

She’s my mother’s favorite because she talks back to the King  

But next year I think I’ll be Mordecai

Because he’s smart  and gets to ride a donkey  

My baby brother wants to be the donkey  

Happy Purim!

 

 

Blood on the Doorposts

Listening for messages

From angels and autocrats

Offering mysterious futures,

Random threats,

And freakish opportunities,

Slaughtering lambs and

Smearing their blood on the doorposts

(Disgusting),

Listening to pundits and prophets while

Hiding our true selves,

Preparing to run just in case,

Grabbing the dog and the family photos.

A lintel dripping with blood

Documents terror and intimidation 

And offers only metaphorical salvation.  

The plagues are real and

This time they’re directed at us.

So what are we going to do?

Go through the red viscous portal

And then what?

It might not be too late

But even if it is

There’s always the Sea of Reeds

And whatever’s on the other side

Bricks Without Straw

This year 

Pharoah has declared

That we must make our bricks 

Without straw!

That we must be happy 

Without truth

That we must be poor

Without healthcare 

That we must be gendered

Without a say

That we must be Black

Without equity

That we must be women

Without choices

That we must be old

Without  help

That we must live

Without housing 

That we must be prepared

Without science

That we must make war

Without conscience 

That we must breathe

Without air

That we must be refugees 

Without asylum

That we must be content 

Without democracy

That we must obey

Without question. 

Moses said to Pharoah,

Let my people go. 

And this year, what do you say?

SAY IT NOW!

This Shabbat, What We Will Do

This Shabbat we will rest from our fears

And exercise our endurance. 

This Shabbat we will use our brains

And ignore the lure of cults and false gods. 

This Shabbat wewill laugh at the schmucks in power

And dance away from their greed and fascism. 

This Shabbat we will reject tempting easy answers 

And embrace doubt and obligation.  

This Shabbat we will pray through the cruelty

And revel in the bravery of love.  

This Shabbat we will welcome the stranger

And defend democracy. 

This Shabbat, this is what we will do. 

Shabbat Shalom 

Amen

Bending The Knee

 

Blessed Was/Is/Will Be,

For the happy memories 

Of myself as

A contrarian

A feminist 

A Jew 

An artist

An annoying woman

I bend the knee 

In gratitude

For who and what I was. 

For the absolute disgust

Brought on

By the oligarchs

The fascists

The opportunists

The racists

The misogynists

I bend the knee  

In gratitude

For who and what I am. 

For the old lady joy I get when

I see the young

Organize

March

Resist

Annoy

Pray

I bend the knee 

In gratitude

For reminding me who and what we will be. 

Amen

Gravy: Happy New Year

 

Whatever this is, now,

Will pass. 

And, sooner rather than later. 

Me, too,

I’ve had my three score and ten. 

The rest is gravy. 

This cup of coffee

This cherry red lipstick

This interesting book

This funny stand up

This prayer for the future—

Gravy.  

It won’t be fun. 

The pain that’s coming

Is coming

But so is the hope.  

That’s gravy, too. 

Happy New Year. 

Why I Light Candles

I loved Hanukkah when I was young:

Eight days of presents, what’s not to like?

But then I grew up.

I lived alone.

Who was I lighting the candles for?

Not me,

I didn’t care.

The Hanukkah menorah was for families

And I don’t have children.

And it’s a fire hazard!

So screw that.

But then I thought

What if I did the Hanukkah thing anyway?

What would it feel like?

So one year I lit the candles every night, for eight nights,

As an interesting experiment.

And every night, each time I struck the match,

I found there was a reason:

I lit the candle as an homage to my childhood.

I lit the candles because if pagans and Christians can celebrate the winter solstice, why shouldn’t I?

I lit the candles because a friend was having a latka party.

I lit the candles because fire is pretty.

I lit the candles because I used to have a crush on Judah Maccabee.

I lit the candles because I get to have Hanukkah even if I don’t have kids.

I lit the candles because, well, it was the seventh night so I lit the candles.                                                                   

I lit the candles because of all the other Jews all over the world lighting candles.

So now

When I need to see 

In the darkest of times,

I light candles.

Brucha At Achat, 

Baruch Atah Echad, 

Bless the One-ness, 

Blessing us

As we encircle time and space with meaning. 

Amen