In this Passover poem, Chaya Lester calls us to have the courage to leave traumatic relationships.
Tag Archives: Exodus
Ask Not for Whom the Bush Burns
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hear the Call", "Passover", abusive relationships, Chaya Lester, trauma Comments closed
Drawn Forth to Eat the History Feast
Saturday – Passover I asked my poet friend Norman Finkelstein for a good Passover poem and he alerted me to this one by Harvey Shapiro, found in Mountain, Fire, Thornbush (Swallow, 1961). The Passover seder, of course, revolves around remembering, and Shapiro’s poem points out that remembering was already part of the initial Exodus events. […]
A Positive Spin on the Golden Calf
Rabbi Jacob Staub’s account of the golden calf is much different, and a lot more fun, than the Exodus version.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Golden Calf", fertility religions, Freud, Jacob Staub, monotheism, Moses, Moses and Monotheism, Oedipus complex, polytheism, Repression Comments closed
A Cradle Yet Shall Save the Earth
Mark Twain has fun in “Huckleberry Finn” with today’s New Testament reading, which is about Moses being discovered in “the bushrushers.” Victor Hugo also has a charming poem about the incident.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Moses on the Nile", Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, Moses, Victor Hugo Comments closed
Must I Dwell in Slavery’s Night?
In anticipation of Passover, I share a poem composed by the African American slave George Moses Horton.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Passover", "Slave's Complaint", George Moses Horton, slavery Comments closed
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Both Martin Luther King and James Weldon Johnson, in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” drew strength and courage from the Book of Exodus.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Civil Rights Movement, James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing, Martin Luther King, slavery Comments closed
Death & Miracles & Stars without Number
In Norman Finkelstein’s account of the Passover, death and miracles are bound up together. It is an uneasy combination, calling upon us to look at our own complicity in the world’s evils.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Passover", "Telling", Haggadah, Norman Finkelstein, Passover Seder Comments closed
The Bush of Faith Resists the Flames
Yakov Azriel’s poem on Moses and the burning bush contrasts scorching fire with nourishing faith.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "In the Shadow of a Burning Bush", Azriel Yakov, burning bush, Moses Comments closed
