Winning “chai-kus” from around the country
Image by Christine Catalogna
Ever heard of haiku? Well what about “chai-ku?”
The Book Meshuggenahs is a group of 18 award-winning Jewish children’s book authors – all women – from the United States and Israel. This year, they began an annual contest for “chai-ku,” and awarding each winner with a certificate and one of their books. They hope to get both adults and children excited about Jewish books and writing.
Haiku are three line poems, constructed with a five-seven-five pattern of syllables for each line respectively, often with a seasonal or nature theme. The “chai-ku” follow the same form, but are all on Jewish topics; some adhere more closely to the idea of a seasonal theme, with references to holidays or the rhythm of the Jewish calendar. Others are more spiritual, referencing songs or Torah.
Winners include a cantor, a sixth grader and a whole second grade classroom who made watercolors to go along with each entry. The winning entries come from across the country.
Beth Dwoskin, Ann Arbor, MI
Our voices abound
Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino
What song shall we sing?
Joshua Gage, Pepper Pike, OH
Tu B’Shevat
the warmth of the soil
as I press the seed
Marcie Wessels, San Diego, CA
the crack in your voice,
as you hold the Torah high,
glimpse of man to be
Cantor Eric Schulmiller, Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore (RSNS), Plandome, NY
The toughest question
At the Passover Table:
What’s gefilte fish?
Benjamin Wexler (6th grade), Tucson, AZ
The Afikoman
Kids are searching all around
What a nice surprise!
Christine Catalogna, The Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School, Beachwood, OH.
Christine’s entire class of second graders each submitted a chai-ku about the Torah after receiving their own copies of the chumash. A few of their poems are below, along with the pictures they made to accompany them. The rest can be viewed on the chai-ku contest website.
Adam
Written by rabbis
A holy and ancient scroll
Truly hard to read
Netta
Important Torah
We chant the trope with Rachel
My part is not long
Roy
Fabulous teachings
Old, interesting stories
Reading holy words
Sasha
Wonderful like me
Beautiful letters hanging
Powerful like God
View all of the winning entries here.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
