The literary world has been no exception to skyrocketing antisemitism in the wake of Oct. 7, 2023.
Jewish and Israeli writers are ostracized, cancelled, and boycotted, with attempts to publish Israeli voices driving some journals into chaos.
For Tree Smith Benedikt, that trend has been difficult to witness. A Jewish poet, Smith Benedikt lives with her family in New Richmond, about half an hour from Cincinnati.
“I just felt so discouraged, really demoralized,” she said. “Then I got kind of aggravated with myself…why would I just sit here and complain about it and not do anything?”
So Smith Benedikt decided to start small. In fall 2024, to coincide with Elul, the Jewish month of reflection leading up to the high holidays, she put together a Jewish poetry reading challenge.
All it took was creating an Instagram page and starting to post virtual meeting times.
“I thought, if I’m the only one that does it, fine, I’ve done something,” Smith Benedikt said. “I’ve put something positive out there.”
In a welcome surprise, poets from all over the world, including Israel, England, and Japan showed up. So Smith Benedikt decided to build on her success and launch the Jewish Poets Collective, a new online space for Jewish poets.
“What I’m doing with that is still showcasing Jewish poets, but also trying to create a community and a way to support one another,” she said. “I’ll host casual poetry workshops where we can not only work on our poetry, but we often just talk about what’s going on in the world today and help each other out.”
The Jewish Poets Collective is having two reading events in the next month, one on March 6 and another on March 16.
It’s a small but growing and dedicated group. As part of the project, Smith Benedikt is also launching a new poetry journal that she is editing herself. (The submission deadline is April 6, and the first edition of the journal will publish in late April or May.)
The experience has been an unexpected one for Smith Benedikt. She knows of just one other Jewish family in her county (incidentally, which includes another poet).
And the community she’s building with the Jewish Poets Collective is a welcome one in difficult times. Amid the terror group Hamas’ disturbing return of Israeli hostage bodies, including of the Bibas family, a virtual meeting with other poets was a much-needed outlet to find support.
“There’s not a single person that has taken part in any of the workshops or readings or anything that I knew before I started the poetry reading challenge,” Smith Benedikt said. “It’s totally strengthened my commitment to being Jewish, and I’ve learned a lot from other people.”
For Smith Benedikt, the Jewish Poets Collective is a very DIY effort. She’s learned about putting together her own website, and perhaps most importantly, about the value of taking a leap of faith.
“One of the best things I’ve learned in this experience is, ‘Never be afraid to ask,’” she said. “I have two poetry readings coming up in March, and I asked poets that I thought, ‘there’s no way they’ll do this,’ and they were thrilled [to join]. They’re just so supportive.”
The real challenge is managing social media. Smith Benedikt has an Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky page set up for the Jewish Poets Collective. But like any Jewish person online, she runs the risk of getting a wave of hate comments, or worse, antisemites disrupting the virtual poetry meetings.
So far, though, Smith Benedikt hasn’t had to deal with that. And really, she’s following in the footsteps of many other independent publishers.
“You’ll find so many other people that have done this, and that have created journals with just a simple website or a blog…so I believe it’s absolutely possible to do this,” she said.
Still, “it can be very nerve wracking,” she said. “I’m literally just throwing myself in there, trying to act like I know what I’m doing. So far, so good.”
But the work is worth it. Smith Benedikt has heard personally from some of the poets in her virtual meetings about how they’ve been sidelined after Oct. 7, including from long standing poetry groups. Now, they have a new place to gather.
And oddly enough, despite difficult times in the Jewish world, there’s also a new motivation for Jewish artistic output.
“There’s a real need for Jewish poets to feel like they’re a part of something,” Smith Benedikt said. “As bad as things are right now, we’re also seeing a renaissance of Jewish arts and writing. It’s very exciting.”
