I am thrilled to present Babka Press’ inaugural anthology: Sheltering in Place.

Together, these poems cover a remarkable amount of ground. Some explore the everyday realities of showering, preparing meals, and finding shelter, capturing the absurdity of ordinary life during extraordinary times. Others examine relationships, motherhood, caring for one another, and the forced intimacy that can develop among strangers.

And then there are the poems that hit like a siren, taking us directly into the fight-or-flight response and confronting what it means to live with fear, uncertainty, and the feeling of being unsafe. The strength of this collection is a testament to the emotional honesty and vulnerability of its writers. I am always amazed by the way individual poems, each with its own distinct voice, can come together to form something larger; how separate experiences begin to speak to one another, and somehow, everything fits just so.

As we usher in the new year, bli ayin hara, the skies over Israel are quiet and calm. May that quiet be a sign of hope for a better year ahead, filled with serenity, health, happiness, and, of course, good babka.

Shana Tova to all, and thank you for joining us on this journey.

Haya Pomrenze
Editor, Babka Press