Jewish Holiday Poems

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith for ever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live
as long as God Himself.
Never.

I REMEMBER in my childhood
  From my grandfather I heard
Charming tales of gone-by ages
  That my soul so deeply stirred.

Charming tales of ancient sages
  That I felt I knew were true;
Stories of the hoary ages
  That remain forever new.

Of the Pesach-days he told me,
  Days that joy and sunshine bring;
Of the Festival of Freedom,
  Of Revival and of Spring.

Of the slave-people in Egypt,
  Whose hot blood so rashly spilled,
Soaked into cold bricks and mortar
  Of the fortresses they built.

How on them, the God-forsaken,
  After gloomy wintry days,
Shone at last the rays of freedom,
  Heaven's bright and cheerful rays.

How among them rose a leader,
  Star-like in a gloomy night,
And he pleaded for their freedom,
  And he crushed a tyrant's might.

How he taught the fettered people
  Not in vain their blood to spill,
Turning bondmen into freemen,
  Men of honor and of will.

How the people's march to Freedom
  Could no despot's might restrain,
Till before their will resistless
  Stormy ocean oped in twain.

"Then it was our people's springtime,
  After which a summer came,
Followed by a golden harvest,
  Free from yoke and free from shame."

"Grand-sire, dear," I asked enraptured,
  "How long did that summer last?"
But he sadly gazed and pondered,
  And he answered me at last.

"Child, it was a long, bright summer,
  But a winter came again,
Came with cold and snow and showers,
  With its gales of grief and pain.

"Frost and tempest-strife, contention--
  Raged once more in every part,
Stealing into souls and freezing
  Will and hope in every heart.

"Furious storm once more dispersed us;
  Israel rendered free and great,
Into lands of cruel despots
  Went to face a bondman's fate."

"Grand-sire, dear, why does this winter
  Seem so endless, then?"--I sighed--
And two crystal tears were trembling
  In his eyes when he replied.

"Yes, my boy, it seems so endless,
  But it cannot, will not be;
Israel will not slave forever,
  One day, child, he will be free.

"In his soul will re-awaken
  Courage, will, and pride, and might;
Freedom's sunrise must needs follow
  Israel's starless exile night.

"But till then, ere spring's arrival--
  For the winter's steps are slow--
Pesach is a sweet remembrance
  Of a spring of long ago."

Israel, my people,
God's greatest riddle,
Will thy solution
Ever be told

Fought - never conquered,
Bent - never broken,
Mortal - immortal,
Youthful, though old.

Egypt enslaved thee,
Babylon crushed thee,
Rome led thee captive,
Homeless thy head.

Where are those nations
Mighty and fearsome
Thou hast survived them,
They are long dead.

Nations keep coming,
Nations keep going,
Passing like shadows,
Wiped off the earth.

Thou an eternal
Witness remainest,
Watching their burial,
Watching their birth.

Pray, who revealed thee
Heaven's great secret:
Death and destruction,
Thus to defy

Suffering torture,
Stake, inquisition -
Prithee, who taught thee
Never to die

Ay, and who gave thee
Faith, deep as ocean,
Strong as the rock-hills,
Fierce as the sun

Hated and hunted,
Ever thou wand'rest,
Bearing a message:
God is but one!

Pray, has thy saga
Likewise an ending,
As its beginning
Glorious of old

Israel, my people,
God's greatest riddle,
Will thy solution
Ever be told

I KINDLED my eight little candles,
  My Chanukah-candles--and lo!
Fair visions and dreams half-forgotten
  To me came of years long ago.

I musingly gazed at my candles;
  Meseemed in their quivering flames
In golden, in fiery letters
  I read the old glorious names,

The names of our heroes immortal,
  The noble, the brave, and the true,
A battle-field saw I in vision
  Where many were conquered by few.

Where trampled in dust lay the mighty,
  Judea's proud Syrian foe;
And Judas, the brave Maccabaeus,
  In front of his army I saw.

His eyes shone like bright stars of heaven,
  Like music rang out his strong voice:
"Brave comrades, we fought and we conquered,
  Now let us, in God's name, rejoice!"

"We conquered--but know, O brave comrades,
  No triumph is due to the sword!
Remember our glorious watchword,
  'For People and Towns of the Lord!'"

He spoke, and from all the four corners
  An echo repeated each word;
The woods and the mountains re-echoed:
  "For People and Towns of the Lord!"

And swiftly the message spread, saying:
  "Judea, Judea is free,
Re-kindled the lamp in the Temple,
  Re-kindled each bosom with glee!"

My Chanukah-candles soon flickered,
  Around me was darkness of night;
But deep in my soul I felt shining
  A heavenly-glorious light.

At Passover, it's matzo mother is making
Because years ago while the bread was baking
Pharaoh came and chased the Jews away
On this somber holiday
Parsley in salt water is eaten to remember the tears
The Jews felt all those years.
But there's still a bit of joy,
Because despite everything
There's comfort in knowing
God has provided us with another Spring!

There was peace among the streets
Children playing in the warm summer heat

Husbands greeting wives with a genuine smile
Siblings chasing after one another for miles

But then they arrived
The demons in disguise

Kidnapping those who wore the Jewish star
Packing hundreds of them in one tiny car

Creating chaos in every direction
Killing the love and affection

For many months the car rode
Filled with hundreds of pleading souls for a load

Finally the car stopped and the hostages held their breath
The doors opened and beheld the place of death

The people weak and ignorant
Tired and impatient

The demons who wear the symbol of evil
Guide the innocent souls to die in the hands of the devil

Belongings thrown carelessly onto the street
Stripped of their clothing and were beat

Numbers scarred their arms
Identifying them like animals on a farm

Forced to cut their hair
And sent to work in hot, sticky air

Punishment was death
To those who dared to rest

Starved,
Beaten,
And killed,

Was punishment for being different

Starved,
Beaten,
And killed,

Was the consequence for being a different religion

Few people have survived
To tell the horrors of their lives

Numbers permanently scarring their lives
Slicing into their past like sharp knives

No one can understand the dreadful pain
They went through in those many days

But what we can make sure to do
Is never let this dreadful pain redo

6 million people, 12 million hands
Strapped together like rubber bands.
6 million people, 12 million eyes,
Mother and children with last goodbyes.
6 million people, 6 million hearts,
Family, lives, and spirits torn apart.
What we've lost in the Holocaust
All we can't forget,
We'll make the Nazis regret.

Holiday of new
New Nation
New buds coming out - flowers and leaves
The world mirrors its newness in trees

I, too, can be new
Get rid of the leaven
That puffs up my soul
Jewish nation has a new role

Humanity takes a new turn
Leave slavery behind
Let each man go free
New faith, love and liberty

Don't be stuck in a rut
Renew, change and grow
Each person can soar to the sky
Freedom awaits--all that's left is to try

Eight days we eat Matzo
Remove our shackles each year
Passover, holiday of newness in spring
Joy of freedom--each year--hear the ring!