Hamas/Gaza War Musings #61: VICTORY Prayer Haikus #4

I've been writing haikus for quite awhile, generally what I label #morningcoffeehaiku. They used to be rather banal about coffee, morning and sunrise, but as this awful war has been going on, dangerously  endlessly --yes, even after the release of living hostages-- sometimes my formerly innocent haikus have concentrated on the Hamas/Gaza War. Following are some recent ones. Feel free to share and comment.

Gd gave us Free Will

VICTORY's our reward for

fighting enemies

I'm too powerless

too really affect the world

but can't be quiet

lying to oneself won't protect from vicious war only VICTORY

we need bravery

for true total VICTORY

only Gd will help

Disaster awaits

I'm terrified of future

WE NEED TRUE LEADERS

war will follow "deal"

much worse than any other

very clear to me

Shabbat Blessings, please

some holy work still goes on

must still win the war...

Where's the victory?

Bibi gave up sovereignty...

I'm very worried

Succot Holiday

escape from reality

pray for VICTORY

historical time

not for good, I have no doubt

But what can I do?

There's more danger now

deal's suicidal for sure

won't bring Israel peace

As I went through my Morning Coffee Haikus, I was surprised to discover that all I had written about was the war and lack of VICTORY. Gd willing there will be a major change. Please pray and do whatever else you can, like sharing my thoughts... thanks.

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #56: VICTORY Prayer Haiku #3

Here in Israel we're just a few short weeks from two years since the heinous Gazan terror attack on thousands of innocent Israelis, men, women, children, infants and the elderly. The victims were tortured, murdered and kidnapped. They were raped, decapitated, incinerated and in many cases forced to watch their loved one suffer before they all died. The survivors and those who survived trying to rescue them are so emotionally scarred, their lives will never be the same.

This was a cruel immoral pogrom. In many cases the victims were the same people who had aided those very Gazans who attacked and guided terrorists to unarmed, undefended peace-beliving civilian homes. 

So many words are being written about it, some based on truth and mercy and others on hatred and lies. I don't have the strength for long wordy arguments, explanations and personal prayers. That's why I like the simple haiku, just seventeen 17 syllables in three lines, 5, 7, 5. Here are a few more of my Morning Coffee Haikus. I hope they speak to you. They're posted most mornings on my Facebook page. I've posted two other haiku posts, 1 and 2; please click and enjoy.

sound of the shofar

fills the air to remind us

DAY OF JUDGEMENT soon....

many sorts stormy skies

no VICTORY soon forecast

but Gd willing rain

Learning Tanach* helps

understand what should be done

yes, even today

--*Bible

grateful for blessings

even when mourning and war

survival demands...

evil dominates

media, schools, Hollywood

must be defeated

normal life's struggle

surviving when danger's near

unpredictable

for better future

we need more than prayers to Gd

our actions crucial

we need VICTORY

our enemy's SURRENDER

no deal will do it

good news: we're alive

bad news: VICTORY not close

we need brave leaders

clouds hide rising sun

life's not always so easy

pray for strength to cope

Chodesh Elul Tov

Gd willing VICTORY soon

only Gd will help

Shabbat's survival

for my mind, soul and body

Jewish medicine

SOVEREIGNTY's key

plus strong Jewish SETTLEMENT,

VICTORY make PEACE

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #53: VICTORY Prayer Haiku in 17 Syllables

I really love the seventeen 17 syllable restriction of classic haikus. It forces me to reduce my words and syllables to the very minimum while writing something important. Click for the first collection of Hamas/Gaza War Haikus; following is the second.

TOTAL VICTORY

only way to live in peace

prevent destruction

clouds move rapidly

though VICTORY seems vetoed

by our government

news repetitive

too long without VICTORY 😢

not even a hit

I don't have power

over Israel's government

just can pray to Gd

optimism's hard

holding onto faith in Gd

humans make mistakes

November 2021 Jewish Book Carnival

Jewish Book Carnival Headquarters

I feel very privileged to be hosting this month's Jewish Book Carnival. I've received a great selection of links to blog posts about Jewish books. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since we're known as The People of The Book. 

The genre of Jewish Books has many subgenres fiction, biography, history, children's books and even poetry. Please click on the various reviews I've included to read them in their entirety and get to know the different contributing blogs. Contact carnival@jewishlibraries.org if you would like to host the Carnival on your blog. The December 2021 Jewish Book Carnival will be hosted by Mirta Ines Trupp . To participate, submit your blurb and link by December 11, 2021 to indieauthor4life@gmail.com and please include “Jewish Book Carnival” in the subject line. One link per participant is preferred.

Novelist Howard Jacobson is also quite the essayist; on My Machberet, Erika Dreifus spotlights his "Advice to a Jewish Freshman," recently published by Sapir Journal.

Chocolate and Talmud are featured in two new releases from Green Bean Books. Life Is Like a Library bakes boulou and reads the children's version of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. 

This month on gilagreenwrites, author Evonne Marzouk talks "everyday" prophets, what it's like to be an outsider in Jewish life, and inspirational fiction. Marzouk's book is reviewed here.

Mirta Ines Trupp's latest novel, Celestial Persuasion, receives highly coveted praise from the Historical Fiction Company. Read the editorial review here.

On Mockdown Jersey, Guest Blogger Bubby relates how the race theory of the Nazis is recreated today in reverse. The blog post includes a Yiddish poem about a burning town. Bubby also quotes from the book The Trial of Adolf Hitler by David King.

The Book of Life Podcast interviews E. Lockhart about her graphic novel Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero, featuring a Jewish teen superhero with enhanced canine superpowers and a Great Dane sidekick named Lebowitz.

The brand new Nice Jewish Books podcast from the Association of Jewish Libraries, hosted by librarian Sheryl Stahl, has an interview with Mary Marks, author of a quilting mystery series featuring Jewish protagonist Martha Rose.

On her blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah interviewed Moment magazine editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein about Epstein's new book, RBG's Brave and Brilliant Women: 33 Jewish Women to Inspire Everyone.

Tzivia in Adventures in MamaLand asks a good question: Are Jews an "underrepresented community" in children’s publishing?

The Association of Jewish Libraries blog announces that the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee is seeking new members.  

The Sydney Taylor Shmooze Mock Award Blog is happy to share November's posts, which include reviews of Jewish board books, picture books, middle grade books, and young adult books. 

Here on Shiloh Musings I reviewed Catherine Ehrlich's amazingly compelling biography about her grandmother, Irma's Passport: One Woman, Two World Wars, and a Legacy of Courage.

Last but not least, here's Ruti Eastman's Haikuchains That Kept Me Sane Through The Pandemic reviewed in haiku format on A Jewish Grandmother. 

Jewish Grandmothers
write haikus and shopping lists
gifts for the grandkids...