On this Shabbat Shirah, a Shabbat we celebrate poetry, I bid goodbye to our poet (Don’t call her a Poetess!”) – Barbara D. Holender. She died last Saturday, just a few months shy of 94.
At several inches shy of five feet, she was small in stature, but a giant in the Jewish feminist world and in our local Buffalo community. Always with her blue velvet hat, ornate wooden cane, and magnificent smile, she has been a good friend to me personally these past ten years and an inspiration in what she was able to accomplish. Her Ladies of Genesis, published in 1991, was one of the first of its kind that focused on the female side of Torah study. The book’s cover features a picture of Miriam whose outstretched hands hold a timbrel, standing atop waves of flowing water. The image is an epitome of the poet herself, generous, joyous, and deviously funny. May her memory always be for a blessing.
I leave you with a poem from her final collection, Our Last Best Perfect Day (2007), dedicated to her grandson Aaron, who tragically died while still a teenager. The poem is called, “A Life.”
Dear God, I said
please give me long life.
Look, you’ve had that, God said.
Please give me another year.
Look, said God, that’s a long time.
A month, please?
Look, said God, there’s no guarantee.
A day, an hour?
Look, said God, enough nagging.
A minute?
Now look… said God.
But it was over.
I told you Look, said God.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Alex
Last Updated on 02/13/2021 by Marc Slonim