by Deb Freedman
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Dozens of synagogues across different states have been targeted by “online trolls,” which has disrupted services, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The Jewish advocacy organization said a series of antisemitic “swatting” incidents and fake bomb threats have targeted at least 26 synagogues and two ADL offices in 12 states over the past month. Swatting refers to the act of making false claims to the police with the intention of provoking an aggressive response from authorities at a particular location. —The Hill, August 16, 2023
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1965
A swastika
in concrete
inscribed the only path
to my elementary school.
1971
Alone,
our house
was without Christmas lights,
so someone decorated for us
with dogshit.
1977
In Sociology class,
the captain of our high school’s football team
said Hitler was right
and should’ve killed us all.
Half my class agreed.
Our mild-mannered teacher
exploded.
Rumors spread
she was crazy.
2005
Our synagogue hired armed security guards
for the High Holy Days
after swastikas and “Kill the Jews”
were spray-painted bloody red
on its brick walls
—an artifice of safety.
2009
A confident junior,
in his oral presentation
I assigned to my Honors English class,
explained all Jews
are rich and greedy.
Some of my class was surprised.
The presenter didn’t understand
why this was a problem;
he’d given a similar speech last year
in History
and aced it.
2022
At our local supermarket,
the sweet-voiced lady in front of me
in the checkout line,
told the cashier she was so grateful;
her niece healed from cancer
because she prayed for her.
Fervently, she asked me
if I was a Christian.
I smiled.
told her I was Jewish
and believed in the power of prayer.
Her mouth clanked shut
as she hurried from the store.
2023
My stomach is distended
by history
by now
ordinary.
Deb Freedman is a poet living in Pennsylvania. Her poems have been published in The New Verse News and DVP/US 1’s Worksheets 67.
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