The EMIS community would like to share the two poems related to the war:
NOGA BLISS - EMIS ALUMNI
I stand.
not with my country
nor with yours
I stand with the good people
who were thrown
into the heart of the undying crossfire
ruthless
there helpless.
I stand.
with the mothers who mourn their sons
daughters who fear for their fathers .
brothers their sisters
and friends for friends.
I stand.
with the people who fear for themselves
with the people who have accepted their fate
and with those who hope to wait
and see better days.
I know not what's right
neither do you
I have a piece of the truth
you have another
and they have the rest
scattered
throughout our two worlds
never to be put together
never to be made as one
apart
forever.
Please be kind.
find the empathy within you
for the people who don't know what you do
as they may know what you don't
Stand with me.
not with my country
nor with yours
HANNAH WENGER - EMIS TEACHER
I measure my daughters with wars.
How do you measure yours?
Do you lay them on a numbered mat
Or pinch their cheeks to measure their fat?
I weigh my daughters;
How heavy they are going down the stairs to the shelter,
How light on the way back up.
I measure my daughters with wars.
How do you measure yours?
Do you line them up with a mark on the doorpost?
Or count how much they eat of their toast?
I count how many bottles of water and snacks we
have in our bag by the door.
And then add a blanket, and then some children's books.
And then forget it when the siren sounds.
Every year, they are a bit taller and the shelter feels a bit smaller.
I measure my daughters with wars.
How do you measure yours?
Do you appraise them by when they learn to walk?
Or by what the neighbors admire when they come to gawk?
"Wow, she grew so much since last time,"
my neighbor exclaimed.
"Yes," I answer as I cradle my one-year-old in my arms.
"How old was she then?"
"A day. We came home from the hospital that
night," I told my neighbor.
"Wow. She's really grown... and right back in the
shelter" she said ruefully.
"Yes," I reply again.
I measure my daughters with wars.
How do you measure yours?
Do you boast of which books they read,
Or the smart question that shows they're
benchmarks ahead?
I hide the news.
I don't answer the questions with truth.
It's "developmentally appropriate" to tell my three-
year-old that bad people want to hurt her so we
should run for the shelter when we hear the sirens.
It is not developmentally appropriate to tell her
that hundreds of people were massacred or
kidnapped this morning because, like her, they are
I hide the news.
I don't answer the questions with truth.
It's "developmentally appropriate" to tell my three-
year-old that bad people want to hurt her so we
should run for the shelter when we hear the sirens.
It is not developmentally appropriate to tell her
that hundreds of people were massacred or
kidnapped this morning because, like her, they are
Jewish in their land, and that the same bad actors
have been raining rockets on us.
Sorry, but should I tell her when she is four?
I am not developmentally ready for it now.
I will not tell her either one.
I tell her that the siren means we should go to the
safe space.
Still, she asks questions, and the most insistent
one, again and again and again:
אמא יש אזעקה?
אמא, עכשיו יש אזעקה?
אמא יש אזעקה?
אמא אני לא רוצה להיות לבד. כי אולי יהיה אזעק?
I measure my daughters with wars
How do you measure yours?