A Literary Magazine in Support of the Jewish Community

Back to Issue Three

 

God at the Mikveh by Naima Hirsch

God at the Mikveh

       for Briah Cahana

where is God under my fingernails?

if we are created in Her image—

when She goes to the mikveh,

does She clean her fingernails and behind Her ears?

comb Her hair twice, shave Her legs?

who checks God’s back for stray hairs?

who proclaims Her kosher, kosher, kosher?

Naima Hirsch

Naima Hirsch is a writer, educator, and life-long student. She currently studies for rabbinical ordination at Yeshivat Maharat, the first and only institution in North America to ordain Orthodox women as clergy. Naima earned her BA from Hunter College in English (Creative Writing) with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Her poetry and prose has been published on the JOFA Blog, in Hevria Magazine, and others. Naima is an editor of Monologues from the Makom: Intertwined Narratives of Sexuality, Gender, Body Image, and Jewish Identity (Ben Yehuda Press). She lives in Manhattan and enjoys eating ice cream in the winter.

 

Naima Hirsch