Uncovered while we slept 47 , Our daughters and mothers taken 48 , Fathers and sons thrown in the pit 49 , Our brothers sharpening their knives in the kitchen .
A bloody wash flows down from the Jordan , “ Unclean , unclean ”, She shouts , What grows from the ground 50 Will not cover us , For the blood runneth over in the soil 51 , A curse in the olive branches , Sabar , and Jaffa oranges 52 .
The clouds are broken , thunderheads spilling acid rain . The huts , rotted boards , and rusted nails and , oh , the stench of iron ! 53
But there is a mist that waters the whole ground , It doesn ’ t flow from alabaster cities or ivory towers ,
47
A reference to the sexual violence perpetrated against many of the victims of the October 7th massacre . See Rashi on Genesis 9:22
48
Soon after this is the episode with the capture and rape of Dinah and the extreme retaliatory violence of the Simeon and Levi .
49
Genesis 37:24
50
See Babylonian Talmud : Sukkah 11b , in which we learn that the s ’ chach , the covering of the top of the sukkah , is required to be something that doesn ’ t take on impurity and grows from the ground . What happens when the ground or the land is so filled with grief , terror , trauma , and blood ? Can we actually have a s ’ chach that is kasher ( fit )?
51
A play on Psalms 23:5
52
Fruits that Israelis and Palestinians both love and share .
53
Of blood
125