From Kevin Coval's new chapbook:
How Jewish Boys Get Irish Names - Available Soon!!
4
5
on Kol Nidre
6
the choir they rent
7
the urban justice program,
8
after Hebrew school
9
during the ten days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
10
after the consulate representative speaks
Why I Stopped Going To Synagogue
1
plush purple seats
high ceilings, stained
glass running the east
and west walls
white Abraham
white Moses
white David
colored like sheep
to look like everyone in the seats
below
2
the only memory i have from Hebrew day school:
Noah’s Arc wasn’t big enough
3
in the lobby of Anshe Emet
around the corner from Aunt Joyce’s house
where i’d stay when my parents worked
or dated, and for several years i went
for high holidays to break fast with her:
a mannequin models a bullet
proof vest. computer printer paper,
laminated, taped on the wall explains:
in the new year, Anshe Emet
will buy vests for tortured Israeli citizens.
please show your support for the victims.
write a check to…
4
the new rabbi
is new age-
y, only wants
congregants
practicing
yoga
5
on Kol Nidre
a representative from the mid-west
Israeli consulate took the bema,
asked the congregation to support the wall
being built to protect Jews from Arabs. a wall of hope
he called it, to separate and secure. the rabbi is nodding
the consulate representative describes how Palestinians
will not be able to enter Jerusalem, how there will be more
rigorous systems of check points, how under our seats
lie envelops and how we can show our support this day.
6
the choir they rent
sound like goyium
7
the urban justice program,
meaning the lone day we invite
black folks to the synagogue
(minus those already employed as custodians),
is an MLK day celebration,
where we remind the Reverend’s flock
Abraham Joshua Heschel marched
with King so it’s all kosher
8
after Hebrew school
the parking lot fills
with BMW SUVs
9
during the ten days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
we admit our transgressions; seek refuge in the forgiveness of G-d
but first must receive and the forgiveness of Others.
10
after the consulate representative speaks
Rabbi Siegel gives his sermon.
he praises Israel
as the only democracy in the middle east.
weeps for the body count of Jews living
the universal dream of Nationalism.
he counts Jewish bodies,
only our bodies count.
he recounts the call of the consulate representative.
calls for the maintenance of borders, check points,
the building of walls.
calls the Knesset,
the settlements
the United States,
just.
from the bema,
on the holiest night of our calendar
in year 5764,
the rabbi is proclaiming G-d-
’s plan, and G-d’s plan for Israel,
he says,
like it was in Egypt,
is just
and must
be painted
with blood
11.
i will never return
2 comments:
hi, i saw you perform this tonight at acme. you were really great--i'll look for more of your shows around town!
this really is amazing.. !
Post a Comment