Julia Knobloch

 I haven't posted here in a while, but on my first Shabbat in Jerusalem, here are s ome thoughts on Ekev .

This poem was inspired by a tour my friend Zwi gave me through the La Brea Tar Pits Museum, and other things I experienced over the past month. 

 I wrote a new poem last night, inspired by this semester's class on the Prophets. Read it here !

Building the Mishkan: The Existentialist Warm-and-Welcoming Dilemma .

 I forgot to post this last week!

 A few days late but here's a poem inspired by the Song at the Sea in Parashat Beshallach.

I was going to write a new dvar for Beshallach and/or 15 Shevat, but quarantine has gotten the lazier of me for now, and I have been reading lishma or watching movies. I am excited however to share that two blogs of writers and poets I admire have given the book some space and helped get the word out: Don Yorty Explorations and Erika Dreifus' MyMachberet . Thank you to Don and Erika. 

This week is parashat Bo, and I wrote a few thoughts about what redemption might mean -- for the Israelites in that night different from all other nights and in our (Jewish) American lives.

I wrote this poem after I first visited LA for the funeral of a friend, in March 2016. It would be his birthday tomorrow - and this date also was the day I first visited AJU Campus two years ago.  

This poem is part of my chapbook Book of Failed Salvation, which is already out of the printer and will be available through Ben Yehuda Press very soon! I wrote it last year and it's amazing to think that I happened to be in La Cienega Park today, how things repeat, continue, and change at the same time. Hag Urim Sameach!

It's been a busy week without time to write a dvar but thankfully, Yehuda Amichai wrote a poem on Jacob struggling with the Angel, which inspired me to write a poem that echoes some of his lines. That poem was the first in what became a series of poems that eventually became a chapbook - my new chapbook to be released with Ben Yehuda Press in early December . You can read both here .

There are so many possible divrei Torah in this week's parsha -- from family feuds to a first kiss, from betrayal to armistice. I couldn't help myself but write about place (because I love thinking about places) and what it might have to do with the secrets of our souls . Shabbat Shalom. The map shows Lisbon, whose Latin name, Felicitas Iulia, always felt serendipitous to me :)

  A tad late, but here's a poem for Parashat Toledot . 

 A dream is not a prophecy - or is it? My dvar on this week's parsha is on Substack .

My thoughts for Lech Lecha 5782 on leaving, returning, and keeping a pact: Where Do I Go from Here?

As Sukkot is approaching, I'm grateful that my new poem Date Harvest was published today with the Jewish Journal.

These are some of the thoughts I shared this morning at a shiva minyan, and I'm sharing them here as a brief kavannah as we go into Yom Kippur.  

I had two poems with Ritualwell.org before the holidyas -- Jericho is a short reflection on what can be difficult about the act of forgiving, of making teshuva, and A Narrow Bridge appeals to our courage and trust to return and forgive despite unresolved matters. 

The team at Haggadot.com has included some of my Amidah-inspired poems in their High Holiday booklets -you can find Geulah /Redemption here , and it redirects you to Slicha / Forgiveness.

 I'm giving this dvar about comings and goings tomorrow at the Library Minyan at Temple Beth Am.