Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine

11/07/2024

“With A Strong Hand” is papercutting artwork by Dan Harris. The title is a clever reference to the line from the Torah describing God’s power on behalf of Israel: “with a strong hand and an outstretched arm”.

A statement from the artist:

I think one of the most amazing things about being Jewish is how we trust our ancient traditions to carry us with strength into the future. It goes against what feels to me like the logic of the modern world: that the past is old and antiquated, and should be left behind.

Since October 7th, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Tefillin, one of our oldest traditions, and how it has carried both myself and many friends through the war. I always think of one friend, a hero of mine who wraps Tefillin every day when he climbs atop his tank in the north. I am so inspired by him. I am so inspired by the surge in demand for new sets of Tefillin that has occurred since October 7th, and how many people have felt the call of practicing Jewish traditions as a bulwark against this terrible war.

The idea for this piece first began to form a few months after October 7th, as inspiring images of IDF soldiers wrapping Tefillin in combat began to crop up on social media, and after my own experience wrapping Tefillin with friends at Kerem Shalom Kibbutz when we repaired a mural there that Hamas had destroyed. Iran’s massive missile attack on Israel in April also shaped the type of munition the hand is crushing, along with the text, model number, and the use of the regime’s flag inscribed on the weapon. There are more messages in here if you look closely, but I’ll leave that up to the knowledgeable readers of Green Golem to decipher. The visual style, blocky lettering, and bold colors were drawn from inspirations like Franz Kraus, Otte Wallish, and other Israeli poster designers from the early 1900’s to 1960’s.

Dan Harris is an artist based in New York, specializing in traditional Jewish papercutting artforms, reimagined for the modern era. An ardent Zionist, Dan seeks to use his Jewish art to bring joy, tzedakah and bitachon to all Jews, and to encourage those around him to do the same. He is an Art Editor and Illustrator for Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine.

23/06/2024

BARD’s art series “The Strength of Survivors” is a blend of her most cherished fictional show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, with the story of her real-life people.

This piece depicts Korra, the Avatar of the sequel series “The Legend of Korra”. Korra is a fierce fighter with a strong sense of morality and justice. She is depicted in an IDF uniform to honor all soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, but in particular the many women warriors who protect Israel every day. Korra is from the Water Tribe, but she defends all the nations of her world. Similarly, the IDF protects all of its citizens, regardless of their ethnic or religious background, and seeks to maintain the safety and dignity of all innocent people.

BARD has always deeply connected with “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and its sequel show “The Legend of Korra”. She appreciates their rich and difficult themes, such as the trials of war; the difficult road to peace; colonization; culture; peoplehood; sovereignty; and more. The theme of indigeneity is subtly tied into the show as well, with references to real peoples such as Inuit and Yu’pik, used to inform the Water Tribe look and story. The story of the Air Nomads, like that of Israel, is a tale of an indigenous people re-establishing their nation in the aftermath of genocide. Reflecting on the series after Oct 7, many of these themes deeply resonated and took on new meaning, inspiring BARD to explore the world of Avatar through an Am Yisrael lens.

BARD is a q***r Jewish mixed media artist and activist in New England.
https://artbybard.wixsite.com/gallery

12/06/2024

“Golem DNA” by Hal Goldberg

The double helix DNA of the Golem is now preserved in marble, and will re-create a new Golem whenever the Jews are in jeopardy. On the top of the double helix is carved the word “Emet”, “truth” in Hebrew.

In the original story of the Golem of Prague, the Golem was activated by inscribing “Emet” on its forehead. To deactivate the Golem, the letter aleph was removed, transforming the word “truth” to the word “death”.

(2001) White Carrara Marble 17" x 11" 13"


Hal has been a marble sculptor for over 50 years. He studied at the Laguna College of Art and Design (Laguna Beach, California) and at the Art Students League (New York), but is primarily self-taught. He carves directly in the stone.

The purpose of Hal's sculptures is to make people think long and hard about the Holocaust. The sculptures are dedicated to one of the most important lessons of the Holocaust - Am Yisroel Chai - the Jewish people will always survive.

06/06/2024

Olam Meshuga: Crazy, Messed-Up, F**ked-Up World
by Jesse Aviv Wolfsthal

It’s always been a fu**ed-up world
although, until I picked up cursing
from my highschool friends, it was a messed up world.
And before that, conversations with my mother
in our mother tongue, it was Olam Meshuga.

Meshuga that I wasn’t allowed ice cream before dinner
and then meshuga that I couldn’t have an iPhone and then
suddenly meshuga that I had to hide my necklace under my shirt,
meshuga that I was treated like a guest in the country I was born in.

What do you call a guest who has overstayed his welcome?
An intruder, an interloper, an infidel perhaps.
Sometimes you call him an Israeli.
I was eleven and my gravest worry was looking cool
in front of girls I knew I were using me,
and now I’m seventeen and my greatest concern
is looking goyishe in front of girls I know will abuse me.

‘Messed up’ doesn’t really do it justice.
It’s fu**ed up, FUBAR, if you will.
A fu***ng Olam Meshuga.

05/06/2024

Lunch
by Julian Alper

Waiting for lunch
By the lily pond
Admiring the lilies
Yellows and pinks
I watch the fish
I hear the frogs
A bright blue flash
A crash, a splash
Another blue flash
A white-throated kingfisher
Flew to its perch
Goldfish in mouth
The bird had its lunch
And I went for mine.

This photo depicts a white-throated kingfisher, photographed near Sarona Market in Central Tel Aviv. The sight of the bird enjoying its meal, near a spot where so many people go to enjoy meals of their own, inspired this poem. Green Golem appreciates the message: humans are a part of the natural world, and we can all find unity within it.

Julian Alper is a nature photographer and nature blogger living in Tiberias, Israel. He made aliyah from Manchester, UK, nearly ten years ago. His photography and poetry focuses on the fabulous flora and fauna of Israel. Two of his poems were published in the Voices Israel Anthology 2023.

Find more of Julian’s work at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/julian-alper/

28/05/2024

“Smile”
by Pesach Rotem
Granted, there hasn’t been much to smile about lately,
what with the war and all,
but when a member of the Turkish parliament named Hasan Bitmez
gives a speech lambasting Israel for its supposed crimes and atrocities
and concludes with a stern warning that Israel will “not escape the wrath of Allah”
and then immediately has a heart attack
and dies,
well,
how can that fail to put a smile on anyone’s face?
God is great.

Source:
www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/turkish-mp-who-collapsed-after-saying-israel-will-suffer-allahs-wrath-dies/

Pesach Rotem was born and raised in New York and now lives in Yodfat in the Lower Galilee. He is a member of the Voices Israel Group of Poets in English and of the Israel Association of Writers in English. His poem "Professor Hofstadter's Brain" was nominated for a Best of the Net Award

Visual Design by Harsh Gattani. Harsh is from India. He is an Editorial Assistant for Green Golem.

21/05/2024

“Breaking News” — a flash nonfiction piece by Erika Dreifus, responding to the immediate aftermath of October 7th 2023.
“It begins with my phone, which it shouldn’t, because it begins on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), and I shouldn’t be checking my phone (I shouldn’t even be awake now, after midnight). I most definitely shouldn’t be surrendering to my social-media addiction, checking the platform formerly known as Twitter even as I can, somehow, summon enough resistance to refrain from actually clicking and typing and posting. Which do I see first? In my memory, it’s a video clip (or is it a photograph?) of a white van (or is it a pick-up truck?), and I see men with guns (or are they rifles?), and the text that accompanies the image is no longer altogether complete, but I see “Sderot” (which I know to be a city near the Gaza border), and I see “terrorists,” and in that instant as I focus on my phone in New York I know (don’t ask me how) that this is no ordinary moment, and that utter devastation lies ahead.”

This nonfiction piece emerged from a memory-focused writing workshop conducted by Writing on the Wall.

Erika Dreifus is the author of Birthright: Poems and Quiet Americans: Stories, which was named an American Library Association/Sophie Brody Medal Honor Title for outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. Learn more about her work at ErikaDreifus.com.

The accompanying artwork to this piece was made by Dan Harris.
Dan is an artist based in New York, specializing in traditional Jewish papercutting artforms, reimagined for the modern era. An ardent Zionist, Dan seeks to use his Jewish art to bring joy, tzedakah and bitachon to all Jews, and to encourage those around him to do the same. He is an Art Editor and Illustrator for Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine.

12/05/2024

“In order for there to be peace in the Middle East, both sides must first agree on the definition of the term. As long as Israel defines peace as the absence of war, and the Arabs define peace as the absence of Israel, there can be no peace.”

“Peace” is an article by United States Air Force veteran Marc Hennemann. To read the full article, visit https://greengolemmag.com/2024/05/12/peace/

Marc Hennemann is an author and former political candidate. A graduate of George Washington University and the University of Oklahoma, Marc is a 21-year U.S. Air Force veteran, including service in the First Gulf War of 1990-91. In 2016, Marc was also the Republican nominee for Congress in Washington State’s second congressional district. He and his wife live in Nevada.

At Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine, Marc is the Political Advisor and Senior Advisory Editor.

In order for there to be peace in the Middle East, both sides must first agree on the definition of the term. As long as Israel defines peace as the absence of war, and the Arabs define peace as the absence of Israel, there can be no peace.      Peace in the Middle East. Peace between…

06/05/2024

Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, where we honor the six million Jews killed by the N***s.

The date was chosen to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, where tens of thousands of Jews died in a fierce but futile resistance against the N***s. Though the Jewish fighters, outnumbered and surrounded, knew that victory was impossible, they fought on anyway. Marek Edelman, a surviving veteran of the Uprising, explained that its goal was “not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths”.

“The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.” — Czeslaw Milosz.

Czeslaw Milosz was a Polish poet, honored as Righteous Among the Nations for his efforts to save the Jews of Warsaw.

His quote speaks to Green Golem’s mission: to tell Jewish stories, both for the Jews who are still here, and those who are not.

These images were made by Lakshay Goyal, a Hindu student from India. He is an Editorial Assistant for Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine.

24/04/2024

Grape Juice and Challah
by Ted Goldstein

Grape Juice and Challah,
Every Friday night,
After Hebrew School,
A child’s sweet delight.

Apples dipped in honey,
For the first day of the year,
Just a little sweetness,
For a child loved so dear.

Donuts and a latke,
For when the days get slow,
As we sing our songs,
And the candles burn down low.

Some kids know all the prayers,
Some kids may know just one,
But that does not matter,
As long as they have fun.

One hundred days,
One hundred nights,
That they have not been home.

They must miss play,
They must miss light,
They must feel so alone.

What would we give,
To hear them say,
“Can I have another latke?”

One hundred days,
One hundred nights,
They must miss the taste of Challah.

Are they OK?
Are they alright,
In those dungeons made for Allah?

Our G-d’s disgraced,
By men who treat,
A child’s life like fodder.

A child should have sweetness,
From the adults inside their lives,
They should not be raised by villains,
Who behind children like to hide.

Gaza has a problem,
And it’s not the IDF,
It’s that they’re ruled by monsters,
Who for their own could not care less.

Grape juice and Challah,
And a taste of something sweet,
For every child trapped in Gaza,
It’s a parents’ job to feed.

So let us show them love,
They have all been so deprived,
Let us give them all the hugs,
That they have been denied.
Every child needs a home,
Every child needs protection,
Sheltered by an iron dome,
Of familial affection.

This poem explores the love of Jewish parents for their children, and how Hamas denies that love, both to their own children and to kidnapped hostages.

“Grape Juice and Challah” is a poem by Ted Goldstein. Today, during Pesach, we choose to not eat challah, in order to honor the holiday. This poem is a reminder of the many hostages who right now have no control over their lives, and no ability to celebrate.

Ted Goldstein is a 25 year old Jewish poet and educator from Los Angeles. He studied History at Princeton University and teaches English, Government, and Speech and Debate at a small yeshiva high school in Pico-Robertson. He is currently working on his first novel and collection of poetry, One Hundred Days of Night. He also publishes a Zionist substack called It Is No Dream, which you can read here. https://open.substack.com/pub/tedgoldstein?r=1828mw&utm_medium=ios.

Visual design by Charis Nwaozuzu. Charis Nwaozuzu is a Cherokee Jewish tattoo artist out of Oklahoma. She believes that storytelling through art is deeply rooted in both of her cultures, and is excited to be passing that tradition down to the next generation. Charis is Green Golem’s Head Art Editor.

17/04/2024

“The Choosing People” is an essay by LeeEl Yehezkel. She discusses the nature of what it means for Jews to be a “chosen people”, and argues that we are defined not only by being chosen by God to be born Jewish, but also by ourselves choosing every day to be part of our tribe, with all the difficulties that come along with that. Our Jewish identity is composed of the choices we make.

Read the essay here:

The Chosen People? Of course. Chosen to suffer. My most earnest experiences of faith in the Hebrew God always coincide with my greatest moments of existential despair. A familiar thought to most Jews, I’m sure. And in true Jewish spirit, many of us even dare to state this in the public square. For...

16/04/2024

Spread Hummus Not Hate
by Jacob Carr

Chickpea, sesame,
Garlic, lemon;
All agree.
Cooked and mashed
Or balled and fried.
Even better, all combined.

No matter who made the words,
Where you are or
What you heard.
Food is given from Above.
Falafel for all!
Hummus spreads love!

Jacob Carr is a writer and chef based in Lexington, Kentucky. His vegetarian popup restaurant, Yalla Y’all, combines elements from the culinary traditions of Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and southern U.S. Jewry.

15/04/2024

Two Tribes, Three Sisters
by Charis Nwaozuzu

Two lands lost
One reclaimed

Both called “savages”
Both argued “lost”

Yet here we stand;
Stepping through the flames

Still here, still strong
The heartbeat of the land still beating in our hearts

The sun still smiling on our faces
For we will not be blamed

Not for the pull of the lands on our feet,
nor our cries for sovereignty

We will dance, we will rejoice
For our hearts will never be tamed.

Charis Nwaozuzu is a Cherokee Jewish tattoo artist out of Oklahoma. She believes that storytelling through art is deeply rooted in both of her cultures, and is excited to be passing that tradition down to the next generation. Charis is Green Golem’s Head Art Editor.

The “two tribes” refers to Charis’s dual indigenous heritage as a member of both the Cherokee Tribe and the Tribes of Israel. The “three sisters” refers to the three main crops of indigenous Americans — squash, corn, and beans — which are grown together symbiotically in order to support the others and replenish the soil. The knot in the middle of the illustration is a compass, symbolizing the cardinal directions, and the sacred number four. According to Cherokee tradition, four cords connect the land to the sky: when they break, the world will fall back into the primordial waters.

Follow Charis on Instagram

09/04/2024

“Spirit in the Streets of Jerusalem” (2022) is a digital photography piece by Isabelle Young. This photo was captured in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem, Israel. Parts of the walled city area date back to the 8th Century BCE, and the Jewish people have inhabited the area nearly continuously throughout history, aside from forced expulsion and systemic violence and destruction by colonists. Israeli pride and spirit (“ruach” רוּחַ) represent more than patriotism for the State of Israel; they commemorate and honor the thousands of years of strength, hope, and perseverance of the Jewish people.

07/04/2024

This poem is a response to the antisemitism enveloping our society, on college campuses in particular.

Protestors on the College Green
by Lena Renee Anzarut

they read history books, ink
still bleeding
and like to pretend
that they would have been righteous,
that they would not have turned away,
would not have lit a torch,
would not have carried a pitchfork,
like they aren’t still carrying pitchforks, even now
like their words don’t echo,
don’t have teeth,
don’t hide knives.

they march through streets paved
with headstones,
and live in houses built from ash,
and like to pretend
that they don’t tread on our bones,
that their neighborhood isn’t a graveyard,
that their hands are clean,
that they don’t live with ghosts,
that they don’t sound like killers.

I hide my Magen David
under my shirt when I pass,
and think of blood staining the streets of Seville,
of hushed prayer and closed curtains and unlit candles,
of mezuzahs concealed under the feet of Virgin Marys
and trials and confessions
and flames licking,
I think of smoke clogging the streets of Aleppo,
of ghosts in Minsk and Bialystok and Warsaw,
of smashed shop windows and broken glass
and bullets and rubble,
and synagogues burning.

I hide my Magen David
when I pass
and think of the unending cost of exile,
drowning in the pages
of this history book, words
bleeding together,
chapters scrawled into skin,
ink etched into bone,
and I can’t pretend
that I’m not haunted by Seville and Aleppo
and Minsk and Bialystok and Warsaw.
I can’t pretend that I haven’t read this book before.
I can’t pretend that I don’t know how it ends.

Lena Renee Anzarut is a Jewish postgraduate student, currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology, with a focus on Historical Archaeology. She is deeply interested in history and the ways in which history reverberates through the present. She spends her free time writing poetry and sewing 18th century reenactment clothing. At “Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine”, Lena is the Head Poetry Editor.

Visual design by BARD Art by BARD

04/04/2024

Omry Hananya, IDF veteran and stand-up comedian:
“Debuting my favorite new hobby — taking Hamas propaganda off the streets of New York . If you find yourself advocating for genocide or r*pe don’t say you’re on the right side of history."

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WAc-6gXf_/

03/04/2024

Hope is a fundamental part of Jewish peoplehood. Throughout all we have experienced, and all we have suffered, we have never lost our hope for a better future. Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah”, or “The Hope”, is based on nineteenth century Zionist poetry, and expresses the eternal dream that has united Jews through centuries of diaspora: to return to the land of our forefathers, and “be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem”. Today, our hope has been realized in the State of Israel — and it is the responsibility of all Jews to sustain it.

Antisemitism is rising, and has become terrifyingly normalized throughout the diaspora. The Mighty Matzoball pseudonym was developed by Rochelle, a Jewish Canadian, to visually express her big feelings and Jewish pride without fear of repercussions from her anti-Zionist public union, which still has not condemned the Oct 7th Massacres. Find her on instagram .matzoball

01/04/2024

21st Century Judean
By Lena Renee Anzarut

the infant in a wicker basket
floats away from the world

i am too young to remember
and too old to forget

the temple is burning
the windows shatter

i am smoke-clogged lungs
and open wounds

the crowd wants blood
and parchment made tinder

i am the echo of words
i can no longer read

oil spills like ink
wet on the cobblestones

i am a foreigner
in my own home

the candles flicker
fallen stars in window frames

i am a living museum
memory made flesh

fractured pottery, waits
still buried in the Old City.

This poem is a meditation on the modern Jewish experience.

Lena Renee Anzarut is a Jewish postgraduate student, currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology, with a focus on Historical Archaeology. She is deeply interested in history and the ways in which history reverberates through the present. She spends her free time writing poetry and sewing 18th century reenactment clothing. At “Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine”, Lena is the Head Poetry Editor.

Visual design by Charis Nwaozuzu

31/03/2024

BARD’s new art series “The Strength of Survivors” is a blend of her most cherished fictional show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, with the story of her real-life people.

This piece depicts Katara, one of the main protagonists of the series. As a member of the Water Tribe, Katara is an indigenous girl who resists the imperialism of the Fire Nation — just as the indigenous people of Israel have successfully overcome the centuries of imperialism from the Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Arab caliphates, Ottomans, and the British. In the show, Katara’s necklace was passed down to her by her mother, who was murdered by the Fire Nation: for her, it is a symbol of culture, family, and the struggle to keep those two things alive from one generation to the next. For Jews, the Magen David necklace is the same.

BARD has always deeply connected with “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and its sequel show “The Legend of Korra”. She appreciates their rich and difficult themes, such as the trials of war; the difficult road to peace; colonization; culture; peoplehood; sovereignty; and more. The theme of indigeneity is subtly tied into the show as well, with references to real peoples such as Inuit and Yu’pik, used to inform the Water Tribe look and story. The story of the Air Nomads, like that of Israel, is a tale of an indigenous people re-establishing their nation in the aftermath of genocide. Reflecting on the series after Oct 7, many of these themes deeply resonated and took on new meaning, inspiring BARD to explore the world of Avatar through an Am Yisrael lens.

BARD is a q***r Jewish mixed media artist and activist in New England.
https://artbybard.wixsite.com/gallery
IG

28/03/2024

Shira Albag is the mother of hostage Liri Albag, who has turned 19 in captivity. Shira’s words about her daughter: “She loves music, all the time she sings, she has a lot of friends, all the time our house is full of her friends”

Silvia Cunio’s two sons, David and Ariel, are hostages. They were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with six of their family members, including their 90 year-old grandmother Esther. David and Ariel are the only ones who remain in captivity.

Rachel Goldberg Polin is the mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He was taken at the Nova music festival. The last texts he sent his family, shortly before he was abducted, were “I love you,” and, ten minutes later, “I’m sorry.”

Shelly Shem Tov’s son Omer was taken hostage at Nova. He successfully escaped the terrorists, but doubled back when he realized his two best friends, siblings Maya Regev and Itai Regev, were left behind. All three of them were taken hostage. Maya and Itai have since been released. Omer is still in captivity.

Elisabetta Furcht has been painting a portrait every day, to honor the hostages and their families, until they are brought home. Elisabetta is an artist from Italy. Follow her on Instagram , and find her other links at https://linktr.ee/ElisabettaFurcht

27/03/2024

Do you not hear it in your bones?
the hollow ringing
the hallowed tones
The desperate longing for long-lost homes
The graves stacked high with mourning stones
— "Untitled" by Aiden

The Jewish custom of placing stones on graves is extremely ancient: one of the oldest and most widespread of Jewish traditions that are not directly commanded in the Torah or Talmud.

Today, the tradition is perhaps most powerful for the same reason that other cultures leave flowers on graves: it is a sign that the grave has been visited recently, and therefore that the departed is not forgotten.

Jews are said to prefer stones to flowers because flowers, as living things, wither and die, like our mortal bodies. Stones, by comparison, are everlasting, and thus represent the infinite perpetuity of the soul.

Stones also have a special significance in Judaism, with sacred stones ranging from the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, to the rock that Moses strikes in defiance of God, to the Kotel itself.

The Talmud suggests that even after a person dies, a certain aspect of their spirit continues to dwell within the grave, as a holy “beit olam” (“eternal home”). The origin of placing stones on the grave may have been the belief that the stones would keep restless souls “down”, content in the afterlife.

Credits:

The poet, Aiden, is a writer and satirist based in Texas.

Visual design by BARD.

Caption by Alex Horn.

26/03/2024

Antisemites throughout history have always told Jews to “go back” where we came from. No matter where we settled in the diaspora, or how long we stayed, we were inevitably viewed as “foreigners”, and expelled yet again. The great irony is that now that the Jewish dream to return to Israel has actually been realized, we are now attacked for going home.

Well: they told us to go back. So we did. Not for them, but for us. Here we stand. And we’re not going anywhere.

Antisemitism is rising, and has become terrifyingly normalized throughout the diaspora. The Mighty Matzoball pseudonym was developed by Rochelle, a Jewish Canadian, to visually express her big feelings and Jewish pride without fear of repercussions from her anti-Zionist public union, which still has not condemned the Oct 7th Massacres. Find her on instagram .matzoball

https://greengolemmag.com/2024/03/26/they-told-us-go-back-so-we-did/

25/03/2024

“The Yad Is Mightier Than The Sword” is artwork by Charis Nwaozuzu.

Words from the artist:

This one is from my medieval Judaica mashup series, where I combine traditional Jewish ritual items with medieval weaponry and armor. The yad reminds us to be pure and to add our inner beauty to the Torah readings. The gauntlet is for protection, same as the words and prayers we speak. Our spiritual studies and practices bind us together as a people, and give us the strength we need to triumph.

“No weapon formed against you shall succeed, and every tongue that contends with you at law you shall defeat. Such is the lot of G-d’s servants, such is their triumphs through Me” — Isaiah 54:17

Charis Nwaozuzu is a Cherokee Jewish tattoo artist out of Oklahoma. She believes that storytelling through art is deeply rooted in both of her cultures, and is excited to be passing that tradition down to the next generation. Charis is Green Golem’s Head Art Editor.

20/03/2024

In the poet’s words: “Great Beast in the East was inspired by the beautiful amalgamation of culture that exists in Jerusalem — and by extension, in all of Israel. Jerusalem is holy to so many, and I wanted to capture that idea. Rather than “belonging” to anyone, the city is instead a vessel for uniqueness and unity: peace can be present as either “shalom” or “salaam” in the Golden City, and thus in the rest of the world.”

Jesse Aviv Wolfsthal is a college student and poet living in England. He is an Ashkenazi Jew of Israeli & British nationality, born in England to Israeli parents. Jesse is currently studying English Literature, Ancient Civilisation, and Psychology, and aspires to enter the world of journalism.

At Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine, Jesse is the Creative Assistant to the Chief Editorial Board: the number-one junior editor for every aspect of Green Golem’s production.
His poetry (and him )

Visual design by Isabelle Young

Great Beast in the East
by Jesse Aviv Wolfsthal
With translated lyrics in quotes from ‘Yerushalayim shel Zahav’ by Naomi Shemer

There is a Great Beast in the East,
her name is Jerusalem.

Men crawl, weary, broken, towards
her siren song, her golden promise
of prosperity.

A gleaming dome: a wall that wails,
remnants of glittering glory echo
in the saline breeze making pilgrimage
from the glittering Mediterranean sea.

Palm fronds waft music and prayer
across weary white stone and the
taste of holiness hangs heavy
upon the late July sunset.

Nearby, the markets sing:
Shalom, Salaam, Shalom, Salaam.
Tarragon and cumin hang adrift in the air.

“Jerusalem of Gold,
Of Copper and of Light.”
A Beast no man can tame.