Finding Myself
By: Hana Tzipora
There are things worse than having
Pride
As I have learned
As I have found.
There are things worse than wearing your conflictions on your sleeve because you are so
Tired of hiding and of
Lying by
Omission
Just to fit in where you are supposed to
Belong.
And there are things worse than the feeling of eyes on your back and Words that make your ears burn
Because you know they are being spoken, but you cannot always find the source because
There is never only
One.
There are worse things than letting go of your
shame.
The fear of an image
And of
Discovering
What you are
(what you thought you were)
Made of.
For I am made of many things:
of Individuality
of Faith
of Oppression (and of overcoming it)
of Unity
of “No, you cannot tell me who or what I am”
of Dignity
of Missing pieces that I will one day find
of “Yes, I am capable of change.”
of Singularity
of Emotion
of Love and
of Fear that should not be needed
I am made of history,
Still being written.
No one deserves to be hurt.
I ask, if we are one species, then why do we insist on dividing ourselves
Into infinite categories?
And labels
And differences that don’t matter in the end
(we are all equal in death)
No one deserves to be hated
And every day the news is filled with the crimes of those who claim to
Act in the name of
Religion
And
Love
And
Race
And
Identity
And yet the cries of grief are deemed
Too loud.
And I ask
what is wrong
with us?
I say “us” as in
Humanity and not as in
Faith
Or
Identity
Or
Race
Or
Origin
I say “us” as in
People.
Humans.
Inhabitants of the same earth.
I say “us” as in
Wanderers of lives
That are
What we make of them.
Hana Tzipora (she/her/they/them) is a teenager from the DC area with an interest in pursuing rabbinic studies in college and beyond. They started the Instagram account @that.intersectional.zionist in the summer of 2020 after participating in a virtual program centered around Judaism and art activism.
