{"id":17445,"date":"2024-02-20T14:16:03","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T19:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/?p=17445"},"modified":"2024-02-20T14:16:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T19:16:04","slug":"reading-against-anti-semitism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/reading-against-anti-semitism\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Against Anti-Semitism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

On Sunday 2.18.24 “A Poetry Reading in Response to Antisemitism” <\/strong><\/b>was held at The Museum of Jewish Heritage here in New York. <\/strong><\/b>Cultural critic and keynote speaker\u00a0Ruth Ben-Ghiat<\/strong>, author of\u00a0Strongmen: How They Rise, Why They Succeed, How They Fall,<\/em> provided historical context for today\u2019s worldwide uptick in antisemitism. Curators\u00a0Martine Bellen, Ruth Danon,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Andrew Levy<\/strong>\u00a0brought together poets\u00a0Rosebud Ben-Oni, Jordan Davis, Sharon Dolin, Joanna Fuhrman, Nada Gordon, Patricia Spears Jones, Pierre Joris, Adeena Karasick, Vincent Katz, Burt Kimmelman, Basil King, Stephen Massimilla, Sharon Mesmer, Uche Nduka, Mercedes Roffe, Sean Singer, Yerra Sugarman, Anne Tardos<\/strong>,and\u00a0Edwin Torres\u00a0<\/strong>to share works, reflecting on this current moment. During these difficult times, poetry is a place to turn, a way of expressing our common humanity. In this event, we unite in strength to share our experiences and envision a better world.<\/p>\n

Below, my contribution to the afternoon’s proceedings:<\/p>\n

As witness to these dark times, let me open with a poem by Paul Celan (in my translation), addressing that vengeful godhead common to our three monotheistic disaster modes:<\/p>\n

TENEBRAE<\/b><\/p>\n

We are near, Lord,
\nnear and graspable.<\/b><\/p>\n

Grasped already, Lord,
\nclawed into each other, as if
\neach of our bodies was
\nyour body, Lord.<\/b><\/p>\n

Pray, Lord,
\npray to us,
\nwe are near.<\/b><\/p>\n

Windbent<\/b><\/span> we went there,
\nwe went there to bend down
\nover crater and maar.<\/b> <\/b><\/p>\n

To the trough we went, Lord.<\/b><\/p>\n

It was blood, it was
\nwhat you spilled, Lord.<\/b><\/p>\n

It shone.<\/b><\/p>\n

It cast your image into our eyes, Lord.
\nEyes and mouths gape, so open and empty, Lord.
\nWe have drunk, Lord.
\nThe blood and the image that was in the blood, Lord.<\/b><\/p>\n

Pray, Lord.
\nWe are near.<\/b><\/p>\n

In January 1934, two months after his Bar Mitzvah, the 14-year-old Paul Celan wrote to his Aunt Minna who had recently emigrated to Palestine. He explained why he had been ranked second in class and not first, by citing his \u201cbelonging to the\u00a0Jewish<\/i>\u00a0branch of the\u00a0Semitic<\/i>\u00a0race.\u201d The other branch is of course the Arab branch, which makes the accusations of anti-semitism all the way to today more complex than both extremist simplifications thereof.<\/p>\n

The killing has to stop. On both sides.<\/p>\n

Let me close with a poem by poet Hiba Abu Nada, translated by Huda Fakhreddine. Hiba Abu Nada was killed at age 32 in her home in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike\u00a0on October 20, 2023.<\/p>\n

Not Just Passing<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Yesterday, a star said<\/b><\/p>\n

to the little light in my heart,<\/b><\/p>\n

We are not just transients<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

passing.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Do not die. Beneath this glow<\/b><\/p>\n

some wanderers go on<\/b><\/p>\n

walking.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

You were first created out of love,<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0so carry nothing but love<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0to those who are trembling.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

One day, all gardens sprouted<\/b><\/p>\n

from our names, from what remained<\/b><\/p>\n

of hearts yearning.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

And since it came of age, this ancient language<\/b><\/p>\n

has taught us how to heal others<\/b><\/p>\n

with our longing,<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

how to be a heavenly scent<\/b><\/p>\n

to relax their tightening lungs: a welcome sigh,<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0a gasp of oxygen.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Softly, we pass over wounds,<\/b><\/p>\n

like purposeful gauze, a hint of relief,<\/b><\/p>\n

an aspirin.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

O little light in me, don\u2019t die,<\/b><\/p>\n

even if all the galaxies of the world<\/b><\/p>\n

close in.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

O little light in me, say:<\/b><\/p>\n

Enter my heart in peace.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

All of you, come in!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday 2.18.24 “A Poetry Reading in Response to Antisemitism” was held at The Museum of Jewish Heritage here in New York. Cultural critic and keynote speaker\u00a0Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of\u00a0Strongmen: How They Rise, Why...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,79,93,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-intellectuals","category-palestine","category-poetry-readings","category-translation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17445"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17452,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17445\/revisions\/17452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}