This piece is part of our Witnessing series, which shares pieces from Israeli authors and authors in Israel, as well as the experiences of Jewish writers around the globe in the aftermath of October 7th.
It is critical to understand history not just through the books that will be written later, but also through the first-hand testimonies and real-time accounting of events as they occur. At Jewish Book Council, we understand the value of these written testimonials and of sharing these individual experiences. It’s more important now than ever to give space to these voices and narratives.
October 7, 2024
The fact is one day my daughter will find out
someone will hate her
because she is a Jewish girl.
Tomorrow is school picture day and for a moment
I imagine her smiling in a frame that holds only goodness,
a boundary impenetrable,
even though the fact is nothing is impenetrable.
And I will have to tell her what antisemitism is,
what rape is.
When I pick her up from school, she asks from the backseat,
how do you spell sugar, butter?
The fact of being a mother is both shielding your daughter from the world,
while simultaneously helping her to navigate the world.
Tonight she will wear her Hanukkah pajamas,
her favorite ones she wears year round,
and I will pray for her safety,
for the safety of the children burned alive in their pajamas,
or taken in their pajamas,
and put in cages still wearing the same pajamas they wore
when they were taken.
The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author, based on their observations and experiences.
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Carly Sachs is the author of the steam sequence (Washington Writers’ Publishing House 2006) and Descendants of Eve (Blue Lyra Press, 2020). She is the editor of the why and later (Deep Cleveland Press, 2007), a collection of poems about rape and assault. Her poems and stories have been included in The Best American Poetry series and read on NPR’s Selected Shorts. Recent work has appeared in the Mid-Atlantic Review, the At the Well blog, and the Earth Etudes for Elul project. When not writing, you can find Carly teaching yoga or baking with her daughter. She lives in Lexington, KY.
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