a postalcard from ashkenaz

blogging Jewish life, love and liberation

Archive for

July 2011

The name for this site comes from the language my great-grandmother built for herself in a new country, with little support. Part Yiddish, part English, her language was her authentic seal. She would proclaim that her daughters 'be independent' and loved the freedom this country gave her. But she longed for her many siblings in Poland and kept crumbling letters from them in plastic bags long after they had all perished in the camps. She would take her young daughters to the Yiddish theater and weep when they sang Papirine Kinder. When she retired to Florida, she would gently nudge her grandchildren in the language she built for herself: 'send me a postalcard from wherever you are.' To Jewish grandmas kibbitzing over coffee and pinochle, postalcards from grandchildren were currency. The poems and comments I post here are echoes from the past and promises for a rich and just future, for Jews and for the Palestinian people, who at this moment in history are teaching us how to be Jewish. Through this writing, I stretch and struggle with the realities before me and learn for and yearn for peace.

Facebook

postalcard's profile »

Audio of my poem "Setting Sail"

(download)