Program Description:

The calamity of October 7th and the war that followed, had left Israel and the Jewish world in shock and despair. The unimaginable became our reality. As more details of the horror unfold, as we are facing the painful daily losses in battle and above all the plight of the hostages and their families, we find ourselves less and less able to talk about it. The expression most commonly used is אין מילים ein milim – No Words!

And yet – there are those who struggle and find words to express pain and anger, despair and abandonment.

In our sessions we will read and discuss poetry written these very days. The poems are often raw and painful, while at the same time full of love and even hope. Some are written in forms of prayers such as a new “Kadish”, many reference biblical motifs such as the Akeida or Joseph. Others address the new “correct” language, since one cannot say any more simple things like “I am Okay”, or the two most horrible words in Hebrew nowadays: הותר לפרסום “released for publication” that precede the names of the fallen soldiers on Israeli media. The poems come from different parts of Israeli society and reflect a large variety of voices, new ones are added weekly.

About our presenter: 

Rachel is a Jewish education consultant in curriculum development for Israel and Holocaust education. Rachel opens for her audiences a window to Israeli society through literature; through stories, poems and songs of the best of Israel’s writers,   She invites listeners to engage with Israel in an innovative way.

Since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic – Rachel created a global community of hundreds of learners who meet to study Israeli poetry online regularly – Rachel teaches at Israel’s well known learning centers such as Pardes and the Shalom Hartman Institutes as well as numerous world Jewish communities.

In her free time, Rachel enjoys scuba diving in the cenotes of Playa del Carmen in Mexico and the amazing coral sites of the Red Sea. Rachel is also a very active grandmother of eight grandchildren who all live in Israel.