Reviewed by Morton Leibowitz
Light
By Dina Yehuda
The first tablets
written with God's hands
were filled with light
white fire on black fire
they were easy to carry
but when the people danced
around the golden calf
the light left the tablets,
they became too heavy to bear.
When we die
our spirit leaves the body
and we become
light.
We are shards of the tablets,
reminders of the first
broken covenant
shattered but not gone
we remain
hidden in God's ark
in the Holy of Holies
It is my privilege, once again, to be called on to review the annual Anthology of Poetry published yearly by Voices in Israel.
This present collection of poetry is outstanding. Some of the poems touch on the war, but all of them are relevant to living, and more specifically to living Jewishly and, in many cases, living in Israel.
Out of curiosity, this year, I asked ChatGPT, a large language model of artificial intelligence, to explain the power of poetry. I quote here just one paragraph of the response and will then pick one poem from the present Anthology to illustrate the point.
"Transcendence of Language: In poetry, language often transcends its literal meaning, creating a bridge between the known and the unknown, the concrete and the abstract. This transcendence allows poetry to explore spiritual, philosophical, and existential questions in profound ways."
A very dear friend of ours experienced a tragedy recently. After spending an extraordinarily joyous Shabbat with her two sisters who also live in Israel, she received the news that on the way home there was a fatal road accident and her oldest sister was killed. The deceased was widely known for her outgoing, supportive and charitable personality and was mourned by many.
Two weeks later, on the Shabbat that we read Parsha Eikev, our friend asked us to join her and her husband for a modest Friday night meal and, if I could, to please prepare a few words about the week's Torah reading. Parsha Eikev reminds the Jewish people of the sin of the Golden Calf and how Moshe, in his frustration and anger, shattered the first Tablets inscribed by God.
In agreeing to say a few words, I knew I would have to talk about the recent tragedy and find the correct words to help this mourning family at a time of grievous loss. At that time, I was reading the Anthology of Voices in Israel and an hour after the phone call I found myself reading "Light" a poem by Dina Yehuda.
I exaggerate not, when I say that tears came to my eyes. In four seemingly simple paragraphs the author, Dina Yehuda, has captured the essence of loss. Captured it in language that exceed boundaries of belief or creed. She speaks of the shards of light that remain after someone dear passes and how those shards live on, forever. In a religious sense they live on awaiting the ultimate salvation, in the secular sense they live on in our memories, transmitted through the generations and continue to shine captured by memory and transition.
I reiterate the sentence quoted above from ChatGP, "This transcendence allows poetry to explore spiritual, philosophical, and existential questions in profound ways."
I apologize to all the other writers whose works in the Anthology are worthy of extensive contemplation and analysis. I strongly urge all readers of this review to consider a one-year membership in Voices of Israel which includes the current volume, monthly newsletters, and information about poetry meetings and workshops. For membership information www.voicesisrael.com/join
To submit your poems for consideration for the 2025 Anthology use this address:
www.voicesisrael.com/anthology/submitting-to-the-anthology. Submissions must be made by 15th March 2025.