ALT TEXT for …and this would be Moshiach by Leo Rose Rodriguez

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... and this would be Moshiach
jewish writings for palestine
by Leo Rose Rodriguez

sketch of an old growth olive tree housing two nuzzling doves on a background of black. the tree's trunk and the ground that surrounds it are white and the leaves are washed green. another dove soars above. the title and author's name frame the image in red.

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Hagar
And the messenger of G-d said to her,
“I will greatly increase your offspring,
And they shall be too many to count.”
Genesis 16:10

Like a yoke over a cow’s neck came               the touch of Abram
over Hagar’s body       the woman given
as a clay pot from her mistress Sarai’s wares
to be broken open and sealed wetly         together
vessel of uncountable stars

The stain          that grew          with passing weeks
of Sarai’s hand
that brought him over her      The kicking momento of Hagar’s
    choked submission
The mistress          put on hatred as a veil
to shield from the whipping sand
   that threatened a confession of tears

Hagar’s daughters run          through rubble
          bleeding-soled
          heavy-wombed
          delirious
          breasts empty husks
        their children gnaw on

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Hagar’s daughters        having worked a miracle
of nine months          bombs silencing birth cries
  medical tent battered
     watch the soft-boned legs        shrink
like fruit
hollowed
from the inside.

When Hagar ran from her mistress       she collapsed at the edge
      of a spring
     mouth full of sand
     eyes full of salt
 tears dried by the desert
Her daughters run       from Sarai’s
      bullet-hearted heiresses
     mouth and eyes bleeding phosphorus

Daughters of Hagar, may you too
have an angel waiting.

I want to gather their names and bind them like tefillin.
I want to chant their birthdays and secret dreams like tehillim,​
and their favorite words, though my English tongue babbles but already
they are seeping through my hands.

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I want to gather their names and bind them like tefillin.
I want to chant their birthdays and secret dreams like tehillim,
and their favorite words, though my English tongue babbles but already
they are seeping through my hands.

In October 2023 as the High Holidays were coming to a close with Simchat Torah, Israel launched its most dramatic assault upon the people of Palestine in decades. Now, nearly a year later, Gaza is still bleeding. This collection of poetry and essays sheds light on the horrors of Israeli occupation, emphasizes the centrality of Jewish-Arab solidarity, and rallies for a new Jewish identity divorced from Zionism. The potential for Moshiach-- the liberatory figure who will usher in a new world of peace-- lives within each of us. Moshiach is the sum of our collective actions to liberate, to bring peace, to right what is wrong. Together, we must be Moshiach.

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All proceeds from this title will be donated to Operation Olive Branch

Operation Olive Branch is a volunteer led grassroots collective effort, dedicated to connecting with and amplifying Palestinian voices. Our mission is to support their critical needs, including, but not limited to mutual aid