My pious, righteous wife
knows what’s important in life:
intimacy, connection,
purity of heart and affection,
constant reflection
upon motive and direction.
She dresses like a nun,
in white, on Shabbat,
but isn’t one.
History:
Written for Yehudit, just prior to Valentine’s Day. It was published in the Voices Israel Newsletter of February 2019.
Writer, editor, and teacher, Reuven Goldfarb has published poetry, stories, essays, articles, and Divrei Torah in scores of periodicals and anthologies and won several awards. Reuven published and edited AGADA, the illustrated Jewish literary magazine (1981-88), taught Freshman English at Oakland’s Merritt College (1988-97) and courses in Poetry Immersion and Short Story Intensive as a freelancer in Tzfat (2009-12). Goldfarb served the Aquarian Minyan as officer and service leader for 25 years and received s’micha from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi as Morenu, Maggid, and Rabbinic Deputy in 1993. He now works as a copy editor for books and manuscripts and coordinates monthly meetings for the Upper Galilee branch of Voices Israel. He and his wife Yehudit host classes, workshops, and a weekly Talmud shiur in their Galilee home.
Reuven Goldfarbs poem that won Honorable Mention from the judges of the 2020 Reuben Rose Poetry Competition, sponsored by Voices Israel,
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