As the horrors of October 7th were unfolding, a common reaction was “ein milim,” no words. But it is not surprising that Hebrew poetry soon appeared that gave expression to the nation’s raw feelings and emotions.

Our teacher Rachel Korazim, our member Michael Bohnen and Heather Silverman of California have recently published a moving anthology of those poems which they have translated to English. Their book, Shiva: Poems of October 7, is available on Amazon, and all royalties go to the Israel Trauma Coalition for their work with victims of that terrible day and its aftermath.

This Shabbat morning, October 5, Michael leads us in a discussion of a selection of those poems. They cover a wide range of reactions to tragedy, including poems about:

• A voice mail message left on October 7

• A depiction of terror

• Challenging God

• Praying for the return of a child taken hostage

• Answering a child’s questions about death

• A soldier emotionally impacted by his service returns home

• A now sad poem of hope by Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s mom

“These pages take unimaginable pain and transmute them to art. The poems are powerful, important and remind us of the of the rawness and the resilience that poetry brings to our lives.” - Rabbi David Wolpe, Emeritus, Sinai Temple