Kj Hannah Greenberg

Dr. Owen Brownstone, aka Owmapow, is a good-hearted fellow, a biology professor, a rescuer of oceanic fauna, a devoted brother, a teacher of science writing, and a wannabe fictioneer. Unfortunately, he is also an individual who is almost always disadvantaged by the courses of action in which he or his associates engage. Yet, part of what makes him endearing is his tenacity. This character repeatedly attempts to embrace activities that he deems correct, no matter the number and nature of deterrents that they present. On balance, despite his innate courage, he repeatedly blunders. Dr. Brownstone remains a man befuddled by sundry ineptitudes, i.e., he is a contemporary Sad Sack, a relatively inconsequential person who is constantly confronting absurdities, even humiliations. As such, Owmapow is all of us. He is us in his doggedness. He is us in his recurrently unexpected misfortune. He is us in his bumbling. For every moment that any of us have felt incompetent or frustrated by the caprices of empowered others or by the fickleness of providence, we have been Owen Brownstone

It is not so effortless for women to integrate their roles. Whereas women are pushed to "accomplish," they are simultaneously chided for embracing traditional female functions. Women who have advanced degrees, 401Ks, or late model sports cars receive more positive feedback from men, and from women, who have taken on"men's jobs," than do gals who deign to define themselves by: how actively they engage in communication with their spouses, how mindfully they proceed through their pregnancies, and how well they nurture their sons, daughters, and, later, their grandchildren. Simply, as a society, we've made girls into boys, while dismissing any reverence we had for girls. The Wife/Mom explores possible answers to this dilemma by addressing communal stances on both visible and hidden, gender-based strata. Thi sassemblage of poetry puts front and center our culture's need to return to cherishing women as "women" and to esteeming "womanly" goings-on, per se. In these poems, females might be intrepid visionaries laboring in complex math, might be maestros of major orchestras, or might be Olympic athletes, but they are beloved first and foremost for being wome

Not only do dwellers in the Holy Land learn Torah and reinforce their Jewish identity, they also experience life in a Torah-rich milieu. Here, where every handful of dirt is a blessed handful, where the sky over Jerusalem is the blue of tzitzis and of Shamayim, there are words that everyone, regardless of their hashkafa, uses to welcome Shabbot. Eretz Yisrael's holidays are the feasts and fasts marked in Torah. What's more, here, the words of our prayers necessarily refer to our day-to-day experiences. When we pray for rain, here, it is not just a tradition, or a law, it is a reality, with newscasts frequently measuring the height of the Kinneret. When we conclude the Pesach Seder with a prayer for meriting celebrating that festival next year in Jerusalem, we are not referring to a luxury hotel, but to the holiness of our capital, to our yearning for Moshiach, and to our desire to witness the restoration of the Temple. When we sing the perek in Tehillim, which promises that we will not forget Jerusalem, we are not singing about the location of international embassies, but about whom we are and, more importantly, Whom Hashem was/is/will be.****Our life as olim has not been the stuff of storybooks, but the gist of narratives. Such seemingly topsy-turvy living, truly, consists of one blessing after another. From pilot trips to housing, schooling, language acquisition, and employment, my family's acculturation has been a gift.

In fifty essays, On Golden Limestone glimpses the Israeli people, their communication, their day-to-day goings on, and their momentous occasions. Living in Israel means embracing multiculturalism, joining in an array of lifecycle events, and easing up on relationship strictures. Although immigrants bring foreign particularities to this place of sand and sun, Israel pours an even greater depth of character into her newcomers. It remains important, in this unique quarter, to differentiate among: modes of gesturing, ways of bargaining, and avenues for seeking children's spouses. Few geographies proffer enormity per parking tickets, dentists, or ethnic violence, concurrent with ascribing significance to aureate sunsets.

Harbinger Asylum is a literary journal based in Houston, Texas. We anthologize a wide spectrum of voices. This edition brings the reader poets at all levels of the craft, including first time published poets and popular contemporary poets. All who purchase this edition will get a free copy of a chapbook by Albanian poet Ardita Jatru. Please email a screenshot of your purchase to [email protected] with ALBANIA as the subject header.

Rhetorical Candy reflects on images of, suppositions about, and lived experiences indigenous to Israel. The Jewish state is neither an ongoing beach party nor a perpetual war zone. This country's fruit crowns world agricultural, her high tech is second to none, and her military know-how remains superlative. The Holy Land equally embraces foreign laborers, BUL M5-toting rebbes, and public transportation-using five year-olds, who accompany their three year-old siblings to school. Additionally, this great realm is comprised of: sunsets over Jerusalem, Eastern and Western traditions woven into local milestone celebrations, egrets, camels, and hyraxes, plus an awesome national medical system. Most importantly, Israel is this word's most concentrated sphere of supernal energy. Come taste the truth about this fantastic geography. Come read about Israel one essay at a time.