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‘Shiva: Poems of October 7’ Contains 59 Poems That Will Make You Cry
The personal belongings of festival-goers are seen at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Oct. 12, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The introduction to the anthology Shiva: Poems of October 7, notes that the most common response to the Hamas attack of October 7 was “ain milim” — “there are no words.”
Rachel Korazim, Michael Bohnen, and Heather Silverman are the editors of the book, which contain numerous powerful poems that represent feelings of heartache all Israelis and Jews experienced on October 7.
Korazim, 78, said her time teaching poetry in English for many years at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Hebrew University, and online, has given her a wealth of experiences with students.
During the Covid pandemic, she grew a community of hundreds of poetry students.
“When October 7 hit, I realized I could not continue what I planned to teach, and I started collecting works [about what happened] on October 10,” Korazim told me in an interview.
She said that rabbis approached her to create a class, and one advised her to make an anthology. The editors refined and edited translations, and the book is now printed in Israel and available at Amazon.
People often assume that poetry can help people deal with issues emotionally, as a catharsis from trauma.
“I don’t read poetry as being anything but poetry,” Korazim said. “For some people, it is a catharsis. For other people, it’s just a way to express themselves. You didn’t have a tsunami of poetry after 9/11 in America. But we did have it now in Israel. Throughout our history, we have put high value on poetry. If you look at Jewish history and Israeli history, you will see waves of poetry in regular times but also after catastrophe.”
A portion of Ran Shayit’s “A Landscape Sketch Without Entering Into Graphic Details,” hits hard:
There are no words for this
A strong smell of suffocation from the depths of a well
Like The palms of a dead man
Holding onto the foundation of a house…”
Many recognize Rachel Goldberg-Polin for her pleas and media appearances as she advocated for her son Hersh, who was taken hostage. He was murdered by Hamas, and his body was recovered at the end of August.
Her poem, “One Tiny Seed,” includes:
There is a Yiddish lullaby that says “Your mother will cry a
Thousand tears before you grow to be a man.”
I have cried a million tears in the last 67 days. …
Our sea of tears
They all taste the same.
Can we take them gather them up, and remove the salt,
And then pour them over our desert of despair …
And plant one tiny seed
A seed wrapped in pain, trauma, fear and hope?
Osnat Eldar’s poem, “Sea Fragments,” begins with Psalm 93 and is dedicated to Romi Suissa, a six-year-old girl whose parents were murdered by Hamas.
Romi hid in the backseat, and was eventually rescued by a police officer in a now famous recording where she asks the man who saved her and her sister: “Are you Israeli?”
In another of Eldar’s poems, she writes:
Mothers
If only they could change places with the boy or the girl
Ready for captivity or death.
In “A Good Day,” Tal Shavit writes:
I want to turn myself into bulletproof vests
For all the fighters,
Become iron domes
Over the heads of all the girls,
Each and every one.
One of the most powerful images is depicted in Dael Rodrigues Garcia’s “A Fallen Soldier”:
A soldier is falling
Like a coin into a tzedakah box
He bumps into the copper coins
Secretly, he falls anonymously,
He saves from death
He rattles with his brothers
He kisses their faces
Crusted with the sweat of battle
And his father and mother stretch out their hands
Begging me to bring him back
Through the narrow
Slit.
Garcia explained that the poem was written before October 7, but having lived in Israel, he recognizes that, “the deep act of kindness done for you by others who protect you, which is often hidden, is the greatest act of charity.”
There are different ways that the human mind processes horror. This book is a gut-wrenching assessment of the fragility, vulnerability, and undeniability that despite the trauma we’ve experienced, those who are alive continue to live. Net proceeds of sales of the book will be donated to the Israel Trauma Coalition, which works with victims of October 7.
The author is a writer based in New York.
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Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
i24 News – The United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.
French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.
This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.
However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.
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Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack
A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
i24 News – The Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.
Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.
The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.
He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.
The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.
His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.
The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.
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Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.
“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.
Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.
The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.
Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.
German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.
Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.
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