Poetry

Abraham Joshua Heschel. a rabbi who marched for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King, Jr

Wrote that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings,

That indifference to evil is worse than evil itself

That in a free society, some are guilty but all are responsible

May we continue to practice tikkun olam, repairing the world

May we continue to practice, gemilut chasidim, acts of lovingkindness

May we continue to practice tzedakah, just giving

May we recognize that all beings are created equal, b'tzelem elohim, in the image of the divine

May we walk away today knowing that each of us has the power to create change.

by Deanna Neil

Things that have no limit

in this world or any other:

how often I can think of you

and feel my sadness lessen

the comfort that I find in you

from eve to night to morning

how many times I turn to you

to see my best self reflected

the gratitude I feel for you

(how did I get so lucky?)

All of these are infinite --

my love for you is greater.

Hareinu m’kablim aleinu et mitzvat ha-borei

V’ahavta l’re’akha camokha, l’reakha camokha.

Here we take upon ourselves the mitzvah of our Creator

To love my neighbor as myself, my neighbor as myself.

Cover your eyes and listen.

Listen at home

To room tone;

To scratching behind the walls;

To the neighbors fighting;

To traffic. 

Listen outside 

To birds singing for sex and babies;

To wild animals hunting or being hunted;

To children yelling, My Turn, as they play;

To the wind. 

Listen inside 

To your heartbeat slowing down;

To your stomach rumbling;

To your mind paying attention;

To your breath. 

Listen in shul

To the siddur pages turning;

To the children squirming;

To feet stepping back three times;

To the silent prayers. 

Shema! 

Listen, everybody!

Adonai Eloheinu,

We hear the Holy Wholeness everywhere. 

Adonai Echad,

One-ness is us. 

Open your eyes. 

Amen

-by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat of Bayit