A Post-October 7 Collection
(Links Below)
co-edited with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser
This year, as so many are struggling with the events of October 7, the suffering of the hostages, the tragic loss of life, and the terrifying rise of antisemitism in the United States and beyond, the texts and observances of Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah are open to new and difficult meanings, new interpretation, and deep connections. There are so many questions. How do we deal with the idea of Yom Hadin? How do we read Eileh Ezkerah? Unetaneh Tokef? Will we feel differently experiencing the fragility of the Sukkah? How will we dance with the Torah on a Hebrew date that reverberates with such immense pain? We will be experiencing both the secular date and Hebrew yahrzeit of the events of October 7 during the holiday season. These Holy Days is intended to support the Jewish community’s prayers and spirits through Elul and Tishrei. May the year to come find us healing, united, and strengthened. Am Yisrael Chai!
The deadly and traumatizing attacks on October 7 coincided with Simchat Torah in Israel, the very day the Torah reading cycle concludes and immediately restarts. Reading the parashah (the weekly Torah portion) and connecting lessons from the parashah to contemporary experiences have long been hallmarks of traditional Jewish practice. When synagogues gathered the Shabbat following October 7 to read Parashat Bereshit, rabbis, educators, and lay leaders alike began weaving together the unprecedented trauma and the eternal strength of Torah. A Difficult Beginning, edited by Daphne Lazar Price and Rabbi Menachem Creditor, is the first Post October 7 volume of Torah commentary, bearing spiritual testimony to a deeply difficult time in Jewish history.
"Rabbi Menachem Creditor's beautiful book, Israel Poems, evinces a deep love relationship with Israel and with the Jewish People. The poetry reveals an expressive and struggling Jewish soul, one that exhibits a keen sense of being a part of history, an appreciation of the holiness of simple day-to-day life in Israel, and yet, an understanding that nothing is simple. Rabbi Creditor's broken heart for post-October 7th Israel, for the Jewish People, and for each of us -- imbued with fear, and tinged with hope -- is a statement about where we are today as a people. His words are at once poetry and prayer, infused with echoes of our sacred literature. This poetry is a love letter to Israel, one that considers the meaning of 'home,' acknowledges pain and struggle, and looks toward an unknown and yet certain future. It is a love letter that many of us need right now." - Dr. Ora Horn Prouser, CEO and Academic Dean, Academy for Jewish Religion
“In this soulful writing, readers will find expression of feelings that they themselves hold deep inside. Rabbi Creditor evocatively blends the sacred with the mundane, echoes of the Jewish past with the blessing/challenges of a unique present, and the twin feelings of deep belonging and the yearning to belong of many diaspora Jews. This collection is a gift to so many of us, whose hearts are so filled with emotion during this painful time.” - Dr. Elana Stein Hain, Rosh Beit Midrash, Senior Research Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
co-edited with Sarah Tuttle-Singer
The night of April 13, 2024 the People of Israel held their breath and prayed. In a world where conflict rages between communities, where uncertainty hangs heavy in the air, that night's most searched term on Google in Israel was "psalms” as the embattled nation prepared for an Iranian strike. Searching for psalms speaks to a collective yearning for solace and guidance, a longing expressed through the timeless form of prayer. In spiritual response, Sarah Tuttle-Singer and Rabbi Menachem Creditor invited writers to submit their modern-day psalms, evoking the rawness of the human experience, the ache for healing, and the yearning for illumination. Whether the words of a particular contributor echo the struggles of the past or illuminate the path towards hope amidst geopolitical tensions, Calling Out: Psalms for Today delves into the complexities of the human condition and expresses the yearnings of the human heart.
amazon.com/dp/B0CY2LW14S
co-edited with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser
Pesach (Passover) is one of the holidays that is most widely celebrated in the Jewish community. This year, as so many are struggling with the events of October 7, the tragic suffering of Israeli hostages, and the rise of Antisemitism in the United States and beyond, the texts and observances of Passover are open to new and difficult meanings, new interpretation, and deep connections. How are we thinking about the definition of freedom this year? How do we read Vehi She’amdah this year as we see on a daily basis those who “seek our destruction”? What is the new meaning in L’shanah Haba’ah B’yerushalayim as many in the American Jewish community are strengthening connections to Israel? What will we be thinking during Shfoch Chamat'cha when we struggle with the concept of calling for God’s anger against our enemies? Seder Interrupted is a timely resource for the Jewish community that will help us all to process and celebrate Pesach 2024/5784 – finding joy and allowing ourselves to experience sadness, and connecting to the Divine and each other, perhaps in different ways in the new world we are experiencing.
To Write of Love During War: Poems
amazon.com/dp/B0CVHFLPGQ
co-edited with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser
Pesach (Passover) is one of the holidays that is most widely celebrated in the Jewish community. This year, as so many are struggling with the events of October 7, the tragic suffering of Israeli hostages, and the rise of Antisemitism in the United States and beyond, the texts and observances of Passover are open to new and difficult meanings, new interpretation, and deep connections. How are we thinking about the definition of freedom this year? How do we read Vehi She’amdah this year as we see on a daily basis those who “seek our destruction”? What is the new meaning in L’shanah Haba’ah B’yerushalayim as many in the American Jewish community are strengthening connections to Israel? What will we be thinking during Shfoch Chamat'cha when we struggle with the concept of calling for God’s anger against our enemies? Seder Interrupted is a timely resource for the Jewish community that will help us all to process and celebrate Pesach 2024/5784 – finding joy and allowing ourselves to experience sadness, and connecting to the Divine and each other, perhaps in different ways in the new world we are experiencing.
To Write of Love During War: Poems
amazon.com/dp/B0CVHFLPGQ
The great Israeli poet Lea Goldberg (1911-1970) once said that "it is not only permissible for a poet to write a love poem in times of war, but a necessity." It is in that spirit that this volume of love letters from 14 poets to Am Yisrael, the Jewish People, emerged in the months since October 7, 2023, the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. The poems in "To Write of Love During War" demonstrate with eloquence and raw emotionality the wounded heart, inspired defiance, and resilient spirit of the Jewish People in a very difficult time.
Am Yisrael Chai: Essays, Prayers, and Poems (Volumes One and Two)
amazon.com/dp/B0CN5YBXTT
"This remarkable book provides the reader with a capsule of one of the Jewish community’s defining moments of reckoning in the twenty-first century. ...One day, when the situation is not as dire, Am Yisrael Chai will stand as a testament to the Jewish people." - Ariella Carmell
Am Yisrael Chai is a Two-Volume emergency response anthology of voices from all over the world, grieving and writhing from the horrors perpetrated upon the State of Israel on Simchat Torah 5784, October 7, 2023. (Reviewed by Jewish Book Council, JewishForward, JewishSF)