Created for Jewish Voice for Peace NY Chanukah Party benefiting Adalah Justice Project
Written and Created by Ita Segev
Video by David Sierra
Music by Ethan Philbrick
Special Thanks to Nikaury Roman
A Homage To That Which Grows In Darkness
I would like to pay homage to that which grows in darkness-
like roots,
and babies,
and queer teenage hookups in public parking lots.
Like longing,
and secrets,
and that weird space between
the time you decide to close your eyes
and sleep actually happens to you.
Like Jews in the diaspora who found ways to whisper hymns of hanukkah even when lighting your menorah by the window could put you at risk.
Like trans people who used the shades of night
to wear whatever the fuck they’d like
Even when the cops used the sun or street light to arrest them for deception.
Like Palestinians who refuse to dim their right to be free even when the Israeli army bombs their only power plant in Gaza leaving them in literal darkness. Until the bombs fill the sky with that horrific bright green light
Because words like light and darkness do not convey intention,
do not respect the shadows that exist in between.
And how can you exist in a time like this if you don’t respect the in between?
If you don’t sit between what was and what could be, and articulate what matters to you enough to fight for.
To find faith even as the unfathomable becomes real,
to find movement even in hopelessness,
To somehow believe that even disaster can birth miracle-
Because, like, if even in the midst of surviving a pandemic that makes breathing in the same room lethal, we still find ways to celebrate together, I think that says something about how much we want to live.
