Thank you for that posting from one of my favorite poets. I’m very fatigued from being called unpatriotic if I question the actions of my country (because I love it and I want to do better) and being called a member of the “self-hating Jewish left” because I question troubling actions of other fellow human beings, regardless of whether I share religious and communal ties with them. I prefer to try to be a person of conscience who tries to speak out even when it is inconvenient. I don’t alway succeed in living up to what I hope are my highest values, but I would be honored to have half the gumption of Howard Zinn to challenge conventional thinking. May his memory be a blessing.

In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself

The buzzard never says it is to blame.
The panther wouldn’t know what scruples mean.
When the piranha strikes, it feels no shame.
If snakes had hands, they’d claim their hands were clean.

A jackal doesn’t understand remorse.
Lions and lice don’t waver in their course.
Why should they, when they know they’re right?

Though hearts of killer whales may weigh a ton,
in every other way they’re light.

On this third planet of the sun
among the signs of bestiality
a clear conscience is Number One.

That said, this sketch makes me doubly proud. Proud of the rescue operation itself, and proud that Israeli culture produces this kind of biting, self-critical comedy.

Quite frankly, this sketch does more to make me feel connected with and invested in Israel than anything I’ve seen or read in months.

Thanks for putting it up. Without irony, “Good job, Brant!”