What does it mean, to be Jewish? by Jennifer L. Williams

What does it mean, to be Jewish?

by Jennifer L. Williams

What does it mean to be a Jew?

At one time it meant,

ugly yellow star patches,

stark grey buildings crammed in,

stuffed too full of people too empty,

barbed wire,

and the sweet smell of gas.

Now, a bitter memory, it mingles with

matzh balls

and challah bread,

my potbellied papa with scruffy beard and tobacco,

twinkling candles of Hanukkah,

Passover's bitter herbs,

a people of culture, pride, traditions fully empty.

What did it mean, once,

to be one of Abraham's seed--

as numerous as the sand on the seashore,

or the stars in the sky,

a chosen, a special people?

To tread a dry path,

though mountains of water,

to be fed from Heaven,

and watered by God in the desert,

on crooked places made straight,

worshipping at Solomon's temple,

reading the scroll in the synagogue--

the scroll of Isiah-- and waiting for

the Messiah.

A people of hope,

A people of fulfillment.