by Leséa Newman (Holyoke, MA)
And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart.
–Deuteronomy 6:6
A man
A 90-year-old man
A 90-year-old Jewish man
A 90-year-old Jewish man walking
A 90-year-old Jewish man walking briskly
A 90-year-old Jewish man walking briskly through his neighborhood
A 90-year-old Jewish walking briskly through his neighborhood for his daily exercise
A prayer
A 4,000-year-old prayer
A 4,000-year-old Jewish prayer
A 4,000-year-old Jewish prayer printed
A 4,000-year-old Jewish prayer printed carefully
A 4,000-year-old Jewish prayer printed carefully on a scroll
A 4,000-year-old Jewish prayer printed carefully on a scroll rolled inside a mezuzah
A mezuzah of gold
With a six-pointed star
Hanging around his neck
For seventy-seven years
A present from his parents
To connect him
To protect him
Worn upon his heart
Every day since he became a Bar Mitzvah,
A man at age thirteen
Standing proudly on the bima
Chanting loudly from the Torah
All those decades ago
Snatched
Yanked
Snapped
Stolen
The sudden theft
Leaving him bereft,
Stunned, and shaken
By what has been taken,
His veiny fist pressed
To his curved bony chest,
What has always been there
Now nothing but air.
(For Stanley)
Lesléa Newman has created 87 books for readers of all ages including the memoirs-in-verse, I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father, the novel-in-verse, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; and the children’s books, Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story, The Babka Sisters, and Ketzel the Cat Who Composed. Her literary prizes include two National Jewish Book Awards and the Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award. Upcoming books in 2026 include the children’s books, Song of the Dead Sea Scrolls; Welcome: A Wish for Refugees; and Something Sweet: A Sitting Shiva Story. For more information about Lesléa, visit her website: www.lesleanewman.com .
The Jewish Writing Project 