Alumni We Will Be Heard
Written by Young Judaean Talia Bodner, spoken at the March for Israel in Washington DC on November 14, 2023
It’s been 38 days, thats 1 month plus a week Since our lives turned upside down and the world turned their cheek I wake up each morning wracked with worry, the world feels bleak As we fall victim everyday to baseless hatred and constant critique
But we are not defenseless and we are not weak We have an army that will make this a winning streak We are modern day Maccabees, strong and unique And we have each other and the power to speak To speak up about justice and to fight for what’s right To give voice to the victims swallowed up in the night
Like you – I am a Jew And I am a proud one too! there is so much that we have all been through And now I am here standing in front of all you So what are we here to do? What brought you to this place on today of all days? What is it that you all have to say? We’re here because we are tired of being quiet. We have a voice, and now it’s time that we try it.
You see This is not only about our tiny home across the sea And the soldiers who fight each day to keep Israel free This is about all those who feel hurt, sad, and angry We have lost too many innocent lives it’s hurting everybody Both Palestinian and Israeli We all deserve dignity
This is about Jews around the world, in every community This is about those who make up the rest of our family tree This is about my friends at Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary This is about students on campuses where they don’t like what they see This is about day schools, youth groups, gap years, camps, and our chosen family This is about you and this is about me This is about all of us who came from around the country To cry out in the face of insanity
We are Jews proudly And we will defend Israel loudly Let us stand up against inhumanity Let us fight for a land and home we will never have to flee We are a nation who does not go down so easily You and me, we stand in unity We have agency We write our own history Let’s make our own destiny.
Thank you for your work, it means more than you know Though the work that we do feels ever so slow Steady we work towards a better tomorrow
Here we stand, proudly at the capitol of our nation We bring the new generation We are ready to lead We stand here today to sow the seeds For a more perfect future that we know this world needs Today we raise our voices as loud as our deeds
Today we do not need to be quiet with heads bowed Today we are allowed We can raise our voices out loud We stand in a crowd to express our Jewish pride We say to the world, we will no longer hide Let our voices ring out, echoing far and traveling wide We will not be denied As we stand alongside Together our voices amplified And we will be heard
We sing for Israel, our voices sweet like song birds And we will be heard
Our love for our homeland transcends more than words And we will be heard
Hear us now, hear our message word for word Today we raise our voices loud to the world
And we will be heard We will be heard
