High Holy Days

Analyzing Faith and Doubt in “High Holy Days” by Jane Shore

The main idea that Jane Shore is making in “High Holy Days” is that the child or young teenager is a “Chosen One,” (line 54) and she must free the Jews from Anti-Semitism and the Nazis just as Moses saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. She had no idea she was going to be the chosen one just as Moses did not. Moses was lost too just like she was before God helped him find his way.
The author uses diction throughout the poem to help the reader better understand how the speaker is feeling. For example, “It was hot. A size too large, my wool winter suit scratched” (lines 1-2) shows how she is hot and uncomfortable; she doesn’t want to be there because she doesn’t understand the true meaning of why she is there. Later on she says, “I watched it fall one drop at a time. I felt faint. And breathed out sharply, my nose spattering blood across the page.” (lines 50-53). Here God chooses her to free the Je...