Longing for Yavneh
Janelle Curlin-Taylor
June 4, 2023
Being in exile
The country occupied, hostile, strange
“How can we sing Zion’s songs
In this strange land?”
The Second Temple destroyed
God’s House – gone
Power resides in the court of the enemy
Rome’s rage – Israel’s despair.
Rabbis turn to the enemy, asking for a safe place
Despite memorizing every detail of temple worship
Torah study becomes the new place to encounter Shekinah
The community survives.
Ziklag – David’s Yavneh
Gift from the enemy – Achish the Philistine king
Small, ordinary village – vessel for Jessie and his boys, David’s loyal men
David will reign as king – the community will survive.
Creating a vessel in exile – Dr. Lamar, a Black pastor in DC
Under a White Privilege administration
Walking in the park – noticing babies, flowers
Humans being human to other humans – the community survives.
We are all in exile from an ordered world
Seeking to make of the experience of uncertainty a livable space.
Yavneh – even granted by the enemy, sacred vessel in the midst of change
The community survives.
Janelle Curlin-Taylor is a native Texan, currently displaced in Nashville, TN. Grandfather and mother wrote poetry, it is in her blood. Her poetry has appeared in Blue Hole, Best Austin Poetry 2018-2019, Waco Wordfest Anthology, Texas Poetry Calendar 2020, Voices de la Luna, Tejascovido, and Texas Poetry Assignment.
