The Charlotte Jewish News -May 2004 - Page 11
Jewish Identity Explored at the Barbara and Jerry
Levin Jewish Middle School
The middle school students at
The Barbara and Jerry Levin
Jewish Middle School expressed
their Judaism and their reaction to
the Holocaust through their
poems. We would like to share a
few of them with our CJN readers:
Lonely
By Debby Farber
Small,
Alone.
Doesn’t anyone want
To be my friend?
Minority.
Why?
Why must they stereotype?
I wish they would see me
For who I truly am.
Sometimes
I wonder.
Wonder what it’s like
To be like them.
I feel
Like a caged bird.
The urge to fly is getting
Stronger and stronger,
But the door
Is locked.
How long must I sit here,
Waiting
For someone to rescue me.
Me and my loneliness?
For Eight Days
By Alexander Shporer
For eight days
The sukkah stands.
For eight days
The lulav shakes.
For eight days
We don’t put
On Tefillin.
For eight days
We say the
Brachah lashave ba’sukkah.
For eight days
Is the holiday of Sukkot.
The Holocaust
By Matt Laxer
The Holocaust, one of the worst
times in history.
People were murdered,
Killed,
Beat up on the street.
I bet most people in the world.
If they could.
Would go back in time and erase
it.
Think about what that would do.
If the Holocaust was erased.
Think about all the people that
would be alive.
All the families that wouldn’t be
tom apart.
All the things it would save.
Think about how it would change
the entire world
If the Holocaust was erased.
Would the world have learned a
very valuable lesson
That it was probably supposed to
learn?
A lesson it needed to learn?
People always try to leam from
their mistakes.
But what if all the mistakes were
forgotten?
How would people learn?
That is what the Holocaust is.
A mistake we needed to leam
from.
The Holocaust, one of the worst
times in history.
But if someone had the power to
erase it.
Should it be erased?
Israel
By Sharon Eshet
A land of
Hope,
Religion.
A land for
Jews
To unite.
A land where
The Western
Wall stands.
A land for
Me,
You.
The Dove
By Kaitlin Laxer
I fly away,
Until I see the people
Hitting other people
And causing death.
Babies are dying
And mothers are crying.
Why?
I don’t understand.
Why can’t they be like us?
Free to fly.
To be ourselves.
We are all friends.
No matter what.
Why can’t they be like the dove?
We represent peace...
Don’t we?
Why Do They Try?
By Andrew Tavin
Egypt tried to enslave us.
They were destroyed so that the
other nations could see.
This did not stop them.
They fought us and lost.
They should have stopped then.
We took the land that was right
fully ours.
Nations tried to exile us.
Only one really succeeded.
They, too, were destroyed.
Many have tried to stop us in
exile.
Europe tried to change us, but we
remain.
Hitler came.
He tried to finish what the others
couldn’t.
We outlasted him.
Now, when nations try to take
Israel,
What do they think they'll do?
We have outlasted greater than
them.
Miracles
By Rachel Slotkis
The sea did split.
To save the Jewish people.
God created Moses,
To save the Jewish people.
People fought to stay alive.
To save the Jewish people.
Haman was destroyed,
To save the Jewish people.
Hashem makes miracles.
To save the Jewish people.
Faith
By Rebecca Rajfler
Faith
When Hashem was going to
drown the world
Faith
When we were put into slavery
Faith
When the Jews were in the ghet
tos
Faith
When we were in concentration
camps
Faith
Through all these years we’ve
had faith.
And Hashem has guided us
through.
Everything
Shabbat Candles
By Bracha Weiss
The Shabbat candles
Shine so bright,
As much as my pride
Shines through my heart.
I am
Jewish.
I am
My Shabbat
Candles.
When I Visit Israel
By David Gleiberman
When I visit Israel, I want to see
the Western Wall.
When I get to the Western Wall,
I will go close to the Holy of
Holies.
When I visit Israel, I want to see
the cave of Machpelah.
When I get to the cave of
Machpelah,
I will see the forefathers’ and
their wives’ graves.
When I visit Israel, I want to see
the kibbutz where my teacher
used to live.
When I get to the kibbutz where
my teacher used to live,
I will understand the lifestyle
there.
When I visit Israel, I want to see
my pen pal who lives in a village
near Jerusalem.
When I get to see my pen pal,
I will leam more about him.
With all these exciting things to
look forward to,
I can’t wait to visit Israel.
He’s Here
By Rachel Spangenthal
People ask me why I’m down,
And I say through the frown
That I’m lonely, can’t you see?
My world consists of only me.
Where is God?
When you need Him, He isn’t
there.
Where is God?
I’m sure of me He doesn’t care.
As I walk and I cry.
As a tear falls from my eye,
I wonder if my time is up.
Maybe I should just give up.
Where is God?
In a world of killing, a child
cries.
Where is God?
Oh, my boy, open your eyes.
Suddenly, I awake
For a feeling that makes me
quake.
Did a dream occur, or a sight
Of my spirit taking a plight?
And I wonder...
Where is God?
To make me suffer uprightly so.
Where is God?
Don’t ask, because no one knows.
A woman appears beside my bed,
(Continued on page 12)
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