Friday, July 12 – Hartman Day 4
Today was a hard day. Rachel Korazim taught us Israeli poetry written after October 7. It’s devastating and a glimpse into the heart of Israel or one chamber of the Israeli heart. More powerfully than my prose can convey, the poems expressed the theme of total loss. For instance, like in a shiva (mourning) house, everyday language – What’s up? How are you? – doesn’t work. There were poems expressing the loss of faith – in God, in the government, in the army. And we read a poem expressing the parents’ loss of a child in the army. The poetry broke my heart.
This is the shortest poem and one that works well in translation.
Michael Zats, “Illusion”
Amazing
How everything looks
Unchanged,
Even
When nothing
Remained
The same.
Friday night I visited Zion, a unique community in the German Colony. It’s led by an Israeli female, Sephardic, rabbi and the head of prayer is also a Sephardic woman. Here’s a taste of the service.
If you’re curious about where I’m studying, check out the Shalom Hartman Institute website.