Hyphens as Minus
Signs
“Oh,” he smiled without a trace of malice, “so…you’re a Jew-by-Choice, then.”
As if those hyphens were actually minus signs that, when subtracted from the sum of the whole,
equaled a person somehow less-than, a fraction shy of
authentic.
Oh, I wanted to reply. So…are you going to break the bad news to Sarah, Yitro, Ruth,
the thousands of millions at Sinai, and Rabbi Akiva, too?
Or should I?
*********
Lashon
Hora
Sadly, tragically, I got to know you before I ever
met you
In a neon-lit concrete dive -
late night, cigarette smoke,
with cocktails over easy.
Introductions were made by way of an eager third party
who, upon hearing your fabled name, dressed you up for
me in the most bedazzling of improprieties…
Of course, I saw nothing wrong as I had met so many
other celebrities in this way before…
Only this time,
my last time,
I finally understood what was happening here.
In a neon-lit concrete dive -
late night, cigarette smoke,
with cocktails over easy.
And now, whether in one year, fifteen or twenty
I will never know
the thrill unraveling that ancient mystery
of meeting you,
another human,
for the very first time.
******************************************************
The Shape of a Jew
The Nazis got it wrong. (Of course.)
You cannot tell a Jew
by the size of his nose,
the curls in her hair
or by measuring the circumference
of a seemingly Semitic skull.
What Hitler could never
understand was that Jews are measured
by the width of their
open arms,
the height of their
communal pride,
the length of their
shared histories,
the depth of their
curiosities
and the exact
circumference of their circumcised hearts.
