“I am a Jew…Ani Yehudi…a Torah observant, Halachic observant Jew…” ~Rabbi Funnye

“Ani Yehudi”, I am a Jew.
Artwork & products by Yosef’s Dreams/ Zazzle

JEWS AROUND THE WORLD by Ruth Brin

Who Are These Jews?

There were women who sat in the market
selling beets and cabbages so their men could study:
They were Jews.

There were men of Yemen, great swordsmen,
guards of the king: they were Jews.

There are dark women of India, wearing saris,
Black farmers from Ethiopia, Children with slanted eyes:
All Jews.

There are dressmakers and sculptors, thieves
and philanthropists, scholars and nurses,
beggars and generals.

There are women who follow every rule of Kashrut and
men who know none of the rules, yet all of us are Jews.

Though we are not alike in mind or body,
somewhere in the depths of our souls
we know we are the children of one people.

We share history, a hope, and some prayers:
We speak many languages:
We have heard one Voice:

All of us stood together at Sinai
When our past and our future
Exploded in thunder and flame before us.

Faces of Israel

Sukkot, a Hebrew word meaning “booths” or “huts”, refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest, as well as the commemoration of the forty years of Jewish wandering in the desert after Sinai.

Serigraph: Time of Our Joy by Lynn Feldman

Photo courtesy of Vieilles_annonces of Flickr