The Selectivity of Oppressions

By lan Cohen

You said all oppressions are linked,

But You say nothing for most of the Oppressed.

You said You stand against Human Rights atrocities, But You say nothing of The Atrocity.

You said you would punch a Nazi,

But to Jewish ears, You sound just like Them.

You said you support Queer rights,

But You say nothing of the places where They murder Queers

You said You're a Feminist, But You say nothing of the Women.

You also said "Believe All Women,"

But You don't if they're Jews.

You said "Decolonize this Place," And the Children of Israel Did, Since Jews are from Judea.

You said you're Anti-Racist, But 1 Think You just might be One.

You Cannot see it for Yourself, But the sad and lonely part is,

Guess what?

We Do.

The Seed of Israel

I think people’s souls are generally pure

Though some of us may have been here before.

Their souls might connect to those from the past,

Remnants and fragments of ancestors carried inside.

Some are more recent, a parent or grandparent

And some are much more ancient.

The type that connects Jews across the globe to one another

And stirs something within the Jewish soul that says…

I know you, you feel familiar to me but I can’t explain it with words

I feel it with my body and soul.

Is it your eyes I’ve seen before, or the shape of a feature like a nose or a curl.

Sometimes it shows up in someone from Spain or Jordan, or in a Palestinian,

or the ancient cousin of the Jews, the Samaritans…

But you are not a Jew I am told.

Yet someone before you was, I’m quite sure.

You see, I’ve seen your face, I know you.

Someone in your past was told they needed to shed these stubborn Jewish ways,

And become like the rest of the group.

Was it a conquest or the inquisition that did this to yours who came before?

Somewhere inside, the chain to those who brought you into being was cut,

I’m sorry we lost you.

Something inside you is part of us,

but was forced to part ways from our tribe.

Do you ever feel it?  I bet you might have wondered.

Regardless, I hope you All read our story.

I hope you can understand.

I’ve tried to explain it, but the words don’t come out right.

Don’t forget us, we’re still here.

We still bear the weight of our books and words,

and what we call Avoteinu…our Ancestors.

L’Dor va Dor we say, From Generation to Generation

Don’t cut the link, don’t cut the link

we need to carry it forward, though sometimes it hurts.

For the tiny kernel that is our people, we are so very strong

We’ve been here before, over and over again.

Such is our plight.

There is still so much light and beauty inside, it binds us together.

L’Dor va Dor, the story continues to flow throughout time,

You will see

Even when you try and crush it, you cannot.

But what I want to ask is…

Why do you so badly want to try?