#folk #girlwithpiano #piano #ballad #history #hope

This week it was Tu B'Shevat - not the most well-known of holidays in #judaism, to be sure. But as the New Year of Trees, it speaks to me. In the Netherlands, I have found myself quite isolated as a Jew. Not surprising. This land was not kind to my people. The history is a horrific one - arguably one of the worst in Europe.

And yet, Jews were here - so many - some 2% of the population before the war came. And part of society - welcome and integrated in many places. But the battle to hold this land was brief last time, and then the betrayal.

But here, today, I see acceptance for someone #queer and #jewish like me, coming across the water in search of refuge. Indeed, the Netherlands is struggling greatly to somehow uphold its beliefs about human rights and compassion, in a time when so many need a place to call home.

So I hope. I hope for this land, and for me, that if war comes again, this time we will get it right, together.

Trees By Jemma Kline

The trees lead me along the street, fingers cold and bare. A coffin in the window warns me ‘Listen and beware.’ A rush of bikes, of children’s feet; school has begun, Yet I will hear no Torah read in a synagogue of one.

I teach myself the language here, make the land my own, And sometimes hear my people’s soft refrain from long ago. They are echoes of our presence here; echoes of our tongue, But I will hear no Torah read in a synagogue of one.

Yet I am welcome here, To just be me. The air is fresh and clear, Beside the sea. There is no hate or fear, The things I flee. New signs of hope appear, And I am free.

So I’ll nail the words upon my door, writ with ink on skin. Two candles in my window whisper ‘This is who I am.’ I’ll join the fight if war arrives; lend my hand and gun. I pray this time they’ll stand by me, stand by everyone. For then we’ll see no Torah burn, no synagogue undone.