Our Creative Poetry Writings

We have successfully completed our Creative Writing: Composition, Poetry and Prayer class which took place at the Chabad Bnei Emunah Shul this past June.

A group of women from Greenfield and Squirrel hill came together to learn, share and grow in a meaningful, fun and supportive environment. Rabbi Freidman introduced the five week series with some spiritual insights to help give us perspective into prayer and poetry.

Our instructor Dov Ber Naiditch taught and guided us along the way as we read aloud selected poems of famous authors and discovered different aspects of writing styles to help add depth, style and flair to our writings. We also learned from our instructor some fascinating facts about the past culture of Jewish poetry and saw how many beautiful songs and passages in Liturgy came about.

Personally, my favorite part about the class was being able to share and read out loud each week some of our writing assignments.

There was much laughter as well as awed moments listening to one another's honest, raw and often spontaneous writings. Those moments are what I felt helped the women feel that they were sharing and bonding and truly communicating with each other.

I can't help thinking that in our world of smart technology with cryptic instant messaging, and facebooking, these kinds of genuine interactions are becoming much rarer, as much like an endangered species that needs protective measures to shelter it from extinction.

I hope you enjoy the following selected writings as much as I did!