Drash – Spring/Summer 2007
Northwest Mosaic
Volume 1
Spring/Summer 2007
Anne Wolfe
The editors of Drash wanted their first issue to contain poetry, pictures and essays that “reflect joy, to find one’s way to it and to acknowledge its absence.” They succeeded. While the writing reflects all cultures, it heavily represents the Jewish culture in a very positive way, displaying the kindness, the depth and soul that made it continue for centuries with no homeland.
The editors of Drash wanted their first issue to contain poetry, pictures and essays that “reflect joy, to find one’s way to it and to acknowledge its absence.” They succeeded. While the writing reflects all cultures, it heavily represents the Jewish culture in a very positive way, displaying the kindness, the depth and soul that made it continue for centuries with no homeland.
The overall theme running through the works is spiritual penetration: a combination of intensity and discovery. Whether dramatic, light-hearted, joyous, or penitent, this spiritual presence ripples throughout, such as in “Would You Know My Name, if You Saw Me in Hebron?” It’s a touching, uplifting piece by Alex. A. G. Taub depicting a Romeo-and-Juliet tale of a Jewish girl attracted to a Palestinian boy, who runs off to the army to escape an arranged marriage. While love triumphs in this story, the real love that triumphs is the heart of Judaism, and this tale is very much a parable.
An illuminating excerpt from the autobiography Losing the Way: Confessions of a Reluctant Mystic by Mary Potter Engel titled “Which Joseph? Giving Thanks for Everything” gives readers the chance to explore the mind and heart of a struggling religious scholar. Engel was a Christian-turned-Jew, and is dealing with bitterness of family rejection. She examines her own motives and the scripture, and writes, “Living with an abusive, violent family for over half a century has shown me that family is a school of the spirit.”
There are slyly humorous stories like “Triage” by Wendy Marcus, and a revealing interview with David Guterson, who took ten years to write Snow Falling on Cedars. Wendy Marcus, Drash’s editor, explains that the title, Drash, is about studying scripture using stories, and these stories and poems are all bound to inspire.
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