Debate for Peace

As part of the Writers Matter program, teachers from about twenty schools around Israel wrote and shared their writing together. The following piece is part of the “I Am From” collection, and comes from Ella, from Tichon Or in Tzur Hadassah.

I’m from the East and West

I’m from the North and South

I’m from a pain that etches holes in my heart

I’m from intense longing

I’m from Hope that cannot be extinguished by a lion’s roar

I am from ancient wisdom

I’m from the cutting edge of new inventions

I’m from waves of despair that threaten to pull me under

I’m from gentle pools of light glowing in the darkest night

I am from the mouths of new born babes

I’m from my grandmother’s gnarled hands

I am from the suffering recounted by stories upon stories

and I am from the lamentations in the prayer halls

I am from the eternal scrolls, sealed with a promise.

I am from verdant forests, humble mountains, dusty deserts and aquamarine seas

I’m from a tiny country that I dare to call

my home.