Judgment from the heavens - "Tisha b'Av" by Esther Alter
BogiReads brings you the daily speculative reading recommendation of editor Bogi Takács.
Today's recommendation -
Author: Esther Alter
Title: “Tisha b’Av”
Venue: Reckoning, January 2024
Type: Poem – Under 50 words
Themes: History, religion, politics, Israel
Where to read: Text free online + Buy the entire issue
Esther Alter has been writing breathtaking stuff that cuts to the quick (I also really appreciated “The Holy Bible of the Free People of Hasmonea” in the Jewish alternate-history anthology Other Covenants) – I would really like this poem to be not as timely as it is, but it is. Written last year, before October 7 and I think probably on Tisha b’Av, a traditional Jewish time of mourning, it is very much in conversation with the present – AKA Esther Alter knew what was coming all along. A painful read, but IMO necessary, about one possible future for the State of Israel that is as Biblical as it gets.
In the meanwhile, I also wanted to share this: Mosab Abu Toha is posting fundraisers of Gazan families on Facebook.
Until next time,
Bogi.