Exploring Famous Jewish Poems: Voices Across Centuries and Themes

Poetry serves as a profound vessel for human experience, capturing the echoes of history, the nuances of identity, and the complex interplay of faith and culture. For Jewish poets, this art form has long been a vital means of expression, reflecting a rich tradition spanning millennia. From ancient liturgical verses to modern reflections on diaspora, identity, and resilience, Famous Jewish Poems offer deep insights into a people’s journey, struggles, triumphs, and enduring spirit.

Embarking on an exploration of these works unveils a tapestry woven with threads of sacred text, historical upheaval, communal memory, and individual wrestling with the divine and the mundane. These poems, penned by voices across continents and eras, resonate with universal themes while remaining deeply rooted in Jewish experience. They capture the sorrow of persecution, the hope of redemption, the warmth of tradition, and the constant search for meaning in a changing world.

This article delves into a selection of famous Jewish poems, highlighting the diverse voices and thematic landscapes that define this vibrant literary heritage. Through these verses, we can connect with the artistic pulse of Jewish life and appreciate the enduring power of words to illuminate the soul.

Ancient Echoes and Liturgical Rhythms

Jewish poetry finds some of its earliest and most enduring expressions in religious texts and liturgical hymns. The Psalms, while not always attributed to specific “poets” in the modern sense, are foundational works of Hebrew poetry, brimming with emotion, praise, lament, and contemplation of the divine. Moving into the medieval period, poets like Eleazar Ben Kalir crafted piyyutim (liturgical poems) that became integral parts of prayer services.

To Him Who Is Feared by Eleazar Ben Kalir

Eleazar Ben Kalir (c. 6th-7th century) is one of the most significant poets of the piyyut tradition. His complex and often allusive poems are a cornerstone of the High Holiday liturgy. “To Him Who Is Feared,” a translation of a section from a larger work, reflects the awe and reverence felt before the divine, a central theme in Jewish worship, especially during the Days of Awe.

To Him who is feared a Crown will I bring.
Thrice Holy each day acclaim Him my King;
At altars, ye mighty, proclaim loud His praise,
And multitudes too may whisper His lays.
Ye angels, ye men, whose good deeds He records—
Sing, He is One, His is good, our yoke is the Lord’s!
Praise Him trembling to-day, His mercy is wide—
Ye who fear for His wrath—it doth not abide!
Ye seraphim, high above storm clouds may sing;
Men and angels make music, th’ All-seeing is king.
As ye open your lips, at His Name they shall cease—
Transgression and sin—in their place shall be peace;
And thrice shall the Shophar re-echo your song
On mountain and altar to whom both belong.

This excerpt captures the dual nature of the divine – both feared and merciful – and the universal call to praise, uniting angels and humanity. The reference to the Shofar, the ram’s horn blown during the High Holidays, firmly places the poem within the context of Jewish observance and the themes of repentance and renewal.

rosh hashanah poems kalir

Voices from the Diaspora and Emigration

Jewish history is intrinsically linked with exile and migration. This experience of diaspora—living outside the ancestral homeland, navigating multiple identities, and often facing persecution—has profoundly shaped Jewish poetry. The longing for Zion, the pain of displacement, and the complexities of integration into new societies are recurring motifs.

The New Year by Emma Lazarus

Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) is perhaps best known for “The New Colossus,” inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, but her Jewish identity was central to her work. Written for Rosh Hashanah in 1882, “The New Year” reflects on Jewish history, past suffering, and future hope, intertwining themes of renewal and resilience with the holiday’s spirit.

Rosh-Hashanah, 5643

Not while the snow-shroud round dead earth is rolled,
And naked branches point to frozen skies.—When orchards burn their lamps of fiery gold,
The grape glows like a jewel, and the corn
A sea of beauty and abundance lies,
Then the new year is born.

Look where the mother of the months uplifts
In the green clearness of the unsunned West,
Her ivory horn of plenty, dropping gifts,
Cool, harvest-feeding dews, fine-winnowed light;
Tired labor with fruition, joy and rest
Profusely to requite.

Blow, Israel, the sacred cornet! Call
Back to thy courts whatever faint heart throb
With thine ancestral blood, thy need craves all.
The red, dark year is dead, the year just born
Leads on from anguish wrought by priest and mob,
To what undreamed-of morn?

For never yet, since on the holy height,
The Temple’s marble walls of white and green
Carved like the sea-waves, fell, and the world’s light
Went out in darkness,—never was the year
Greater with portent and with promise seen,
Than this eve now and here.

Even as the Prophet promised, so your tent
Hath been enlarged unto earth’s farthest rim.
To snow-capped Sierras from vast steppes ye went,
Through fire and blood and tempest-tossing wave,
For freedom to proclaim and worship Him,
Mighty to slay and save.

High above flood and fire ye held the scroll,
Out of the depths ye published still the Word.
No bodily pang had power to swerve your soul:
Ye, in a cynic age of crumbling faiths,
Lived to bear witness to the living Lord,
Or died a thousand deaths.

In two divided streams the exiles part,
One rolling homeward to its ancient source,
One rushing sunward with fresh will, new heart.
By each the truth is spread, the law unfurled,
Each separate soul contains the nation’s force,
And both embrace the world.

Kindle the silver candle’s seven rays,
Offer the first fruits of the clustered bowers,
The garnered spoil of bees. With prayer and praise
Rejoice that once more tried, once more we prove
How strength of supreme suffering still is ours
For Truth and Law and Love.

Lazarus directly addresses the Jewish people (“Israel”), invoking the blowing of the Shofar and recounting a history of suffering (“anguish wrought by priest and mob”). Yet, the poem culminates in a message of enduring faith, global presence (“earth’s farthest rim”), and the unwavering commitment to “Truth and Law and Love,” demonstrating the powerful synthesis of historical consciousness and hopeful resilience in Jewish poetry.

emma lazarus poem about jewish new year

Witness to Catastrophe: Poetry and the Holocaust

The Holocaust stands as an unparalleled trauma in Jewish history, and its impact on poetry is profound and complex. Poets struggled to find language adequate to express the horror, loss, and questions raised by the Shoah. Some wrote from within the ghettos and camps, others from exile, and subsequent generations grapple with its legacy. Poetry related to this period is among the most impactful of [famous jewish poems], bearing witness and demanding remembrance.

Chorus of the Rescued by Nelly Sachs

Nelly Sachs (1891-1970), a German-Jewish poet and playwright, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966, largely for her works grappling with the Holocaust. “Chorus of the Rescued” is a haunting piece that speaks from the perspective of survivors, marked forever by their experience.

We, the rescued,
From whose hollow bones death has already begun to pare away the flutes
And on whose sinews death has already strung the violins—
We, the rescued,
Whose skulls have already been drilled by the wanderer’s foot
To make flutes of,
We, the rescued,
We beg of you:
Do not show us your sun, but only the earth!
Do not show us your sky, but only the earth!
We beg you:
Give us a small stone,
The millstone of forgetting,
And hang it around our necks—
Then we will be saved,
Saved!

The poem uses visceral, disturbing imagery (“hollow bones,” “drilled skulls”) to convey the dehumanization and proximity to death experienced by survivors. The desperate plea for “the earth” instead of the sun or sky suggests a yearning for simple groundedness after unimaginable upheaval, and the chilling request for “the millstone of forgetting” speaks to the unbearable burden of memory. This work exemplifies how [poem about holocaust] delve into the deepest recesses of human suffering and the shattered landscape of the post-Shoah world. Readers seeking to understand the poetic responses to genocide can explore more [poem from the holocaust].

Identity, Faith, and Modernity

The 20th and 21st centuries have seen Jewish poets grapple with the complexities of identity in a secularizing world, the establishment of the State of Israel, ongoing social and political challenges, and the continuation of Jewish tradition and culture in diverse settings. Poets in America, Israel, and elsewhere have added powerful, distinct voices to the canon of famous Jewish poems.

Head of the Year by Marge Piercy

Marge Piercy (b. 1936) is a prominent American Jewish writer known for her feminist, social justice, and Jewish-themed poetry. “Head of the Year” uses the imagery of the new moon and the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) to explore themes of self-reflection, repentance (Teshuvah), and potential for growth.

The moon is dark tonight, a newmoon for a new year. It ishollow and hungers to be full.It is the black zero of beginning.

Now you must void yourselfof injuries, insults, incursions.Go with empty hands to thoseyou have hurt and make amends.

It is not too late. It is early and about to grow. Nowis the time to do what youknow you must and have fearedto begin. Your face is darktoo as you turn inward to faceyourself, the hidden twin ofall you must grow to be.

Forgive the dead year. Forgiveyourself. What will be wantsto push through your fingers.The light you seek hidesin your belly. The light youcrave longs to stream fromyour eyes. You are the moonthat will wax in new goodness.

Piercy skillfully blends the natural cycle of the moon with the spiritual introspection of the High Holidays, urging the reader towards forgiveness and self-acceptance. Her work often makes Jewish tradition accessible and relevant to contemporary life, demonstrating the evolution of [famous jewish poems] in the modern era.

marge piercy rosh hashanah poems

i am running into a new year by Lucille Clifton

Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) was an African American poet whose work often touched upon themes of identity, family, and resilience. While not exclusively a “Jewish” poet, she converted to Judaism later in life, and some of her poems carry the weight of reflection and transition that resonate with Jewish concepts of repentance and new beginnings.

i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what i said to myself
about myself
when i was sixteen and
twentysix and thirtysix
even thirtysix but
i am running into a new year
and i beg what i love and
i leave to forgive me

This poem, often associated with the secular New Year, captures a universal feeling of moving forward while being held back by the past. For a Jewish reader, this resonates deeply with the High Holiday process of Teshuvah, reflecting on past actions and seeking forgiveness from others and the divine as one steps into a new year.

rosh hashanah poems lucille clifton

Seek by Cathy Cohen

Cathy Cohen’s poem “Seek” explores a personal journey towards connecting with the divine within a Jewish context. It speaks to finding spiritual meaning not just in formal language or dogma, but in subtle, felt experiences – chanting, silence, breath.

When young, I couldn’t reach you
through language.

I felt distant
from your prayer book names
steeped in punishment,
in law and judgment.

Instead, I sought you
in the quiet of the sanctuary,
in chanting,
in families shoulder to shoulder.

I sought you in vowels,
in silent pause between words,
in breath.

Eheyeh asher eheyeh
shimmers
with the possible.

Eheyeh asher eheyeh
surround
of openness, forgiveness.

Here
a sense of your essence.

The poem uses the Hebrew phrase Eheyeh asher eheyeh (“I Am That I Am” or “I Will Be What I Will Be”), God’s response to Moses at the burning bush, as a focal point. This phrase, suggesting divine presence and possibility, becomes an anchor for the speaker’s search for connection, moving beyond inherited forms to a more intimate spiritual experience. This highlights the contemporary Jewish poet’s engagement with tradition and personal faith.

cathy cohen poem

Israeli Voices: Land, Language, and Conflict

The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 provided a new center for Jewish life and literary expression. Israeli poets write in modern Hebrew, grappling with themes of nationhood, war, identity rooted in land, and the complexities of collective destiny. Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) is widely considered one of Israel’s greatest modern poets.

God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children

Yehuda Amichai’s poetry is known for its accessible language, irony, and profound humanism, often set against the backdrop of life in Jerusalem and the Israeli experience. “God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children” is a stark and moving poem that reflects on vulnerability, protection, and the harsh realities faced by both children and adults in a land marked by conflict.

God has pity on kindergarten children.
He pities them and pities.
But he will leave the others alone.

They have to help themselves,
or with the help of an angel, already grown,
whose wings are cut off,
to use them as spades
to dig with.

God has pity on no one who is twenty.
And he loves those under one.
And puts their milk and darkness in their beds,
and the future creeps in on all fours,
always a kindergartner.

And God could do with pity on the grown-ups,
even on very bad ones.
And give them a second childhood,
and trembling and dread,
and the wetness of things,
and the waiting for him,
and pure, unadulterated faith,
and the going into the garden
of the house he lives in,
naked and with moistness.

The poem’s seemingly simple opening gives way to a more complex meditation on who receives divine pity and why. It contrasts the absolute vulnerability of young children with the expected self-reliance of adults, yet ultimately suggests a yearning for the innocence and unquestioning faith associated with childhood, even for the “very bad ones.” Amichai’s work captures the blend of the sacred and the secular, the individual and the collective, that characterizes much of modern Israeli poetry, adding a unique dimension to the corpus of [famous jewish poems].

Contemporary Reflections and Enduring Themes

Contemporary Jewish poets continue to explore the enduring themes of tradition, memory, identity, justice, and the search for meaning, often in innovative forms and styles. Their work reflects the diversity of the global Jewish community and its ongoing dialogue with history and the present moment.

The Birthday of the World by Marge Piercy

Returning to Marge Piercy, “The Birthday of the World” (another Rosh Hashanah poem) takes a broader, more politically charged view than “Head of the Year.” It connects personal introspection with a call to action regarding peace and freedom, reflecting a strong thread of social justice in modern Jewish thought and poetry.

On the birthday of the world
I begin to contemplate
what I have done and left
undone, but this year
not so much rebuilding

of my perennially damaged
psyche, shoring up eroding
friendships, digging out
stumps of old resentments
that refuse to rot on their own.

No, this year I want to call
myself to task for what
I have done and not done
for peace. How much have
I dared in opposition?

How much have I put
on the line for freedom?
For mine and others?
As these freedoms are pared,
sliced and diced, where

have I spoken out? Who
have I tried to move? In
this holy season, I stand
self-convicted of sloth
in a time when lies choke

the mind and rhetoric
bends reason to slithering
choking pythons. Here
I stand before the gates
opening, the fire dazzling

my eyes, and as I approach
what judges me, I judge
myself. Give me weapons
of minute destruction. Let
my words turn into sparks.

This poem expands the scope of High Holiday introspection from the personal to the societal. Piercy challenges herself (and the reader) to confront political inaction in a time of eroding freedoms and deceptive rhetoric. The final image of words as “weapons of minute destruction” and “sparks” is a powerful declaration of the poet’s belief in the power of language to effect change, linking personal responsibility with collective ethical demands within the framework of the Jewish New Year.

poems about rosh hashanah by marge piercy

Conclusion: An Enduring Poetic Legacy

The journey through famous Jewish poems reveals a vibrant and resilient literary tradition. From the ancient calls of liturgical verse to the raw witness of the Holocaust, the complexities of diaspora life, the grounding in the land of Israel, and the ongoing search for meaning in the modern world, Jewish poets have consistently turned to language to articulate their deepest experiences.

These poems are more than just historical artifacts; they are living testaments to an enduring culture and a source of profound insight into the human condition. They invite readers from all backgrounds to connect with themes of faith, identity, memory, suffering, hope, and renewal that resonate across time and place. Exploring these [famous jewish poems] offers a rich and rewarding path into the heart of Jewish identity and the universal power of poetry.