This prayer-poem of Pride is grounded in the Jewish view of love: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Levit. 19:18), pronounced “ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha.” In other words, love wins. This piece appears in Mishkan Ga’avah: Where Pride Dwells, a groundbreaking collection of LGBTQ prayers, poems, liturgy, and rituals.
Love Wins: A Pride Prayer, Jewish
One day, the words ‘coming out’ will sound strange,
Oppression based on gender or orientation will be a memory,
History to honor and remember,
The pain of hiding, repressing, denying,
Honoring the triumphs of those who fought to be free,
Remembering the violence and vitriol that cost lives.
When love wins,
When love wins at long last,
ואהבת לרעך כמוך,
‘Love your neighbor as yourself’
Will be as natural as breathing.
ואהבת לרעך כמוך!
One day, love will win every heart,
Love will win every soul,
Fear will vanish like smoke,
And tenderness for all will fill our hearts.
ואהבת לרעך כמוך!
Love wins. In the end,
Love wins.
Man for man,
Woman for woman,
Woman for man,
Man for women,
All genders,
All orientations,
All true expressions of heart.
ואהבת לרעך כמוך!
Let this come speedily,
In our day,
A tribute to the many
And the diverse
Gifts from heaven.
A tribute to love deep and true,
Each of us for one another.
ואהבת לרעך כמוך!
© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.
Postscript: Thank you to my friend and fellow proud Jerusalem resident Cantor Evan Kent for his suggestions on an earlier draft of this prayer.
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Photo Source: Tufts Hillel, JQUEST (Jewish Queer Students at Tufts)
Tags: #createchange, #createchangenothate, A Wider Bridge, bisexual, Create Change Not Hate Prayer, Create Change prayer, gay, hope, Israel, LBGTQ prayer, lesbian, love, queer, questioning, transgender