We traditionally say al hanisim on Hanukkah and Purim, an insertion into the Amidah and the birkat hamazon remembering and thanking God for the miracles that occurred in each season. Last Hanukkah, with war raging and hostages held by the hand of terror, unable to fully embrace this prayer, I worked with my friend Avital Ordan to adapt the Hebrew to include future miracles, adding my own text to create על הניסים, תשפ”ד, “For the Miracles, 5784”. A year later, I have rewritten the English text. Hard to believe a year has passed. And here we are…

We Wait, על הניסים, תשפ”ה, For the Miracles, 5785
O heart of yearning,
With gratitude for miracles
In the days of old,
We pray and wait
For new signs and wonders,
Miracles in our day,
As we defend our people and our land,
As we fight to free our hostages.

For all the miracles,
Seen and unseen,
Done and yet to be done,
We thank You.

O, that we might thank You once again,
That we might rejoice
With whole hearts,
With the captives freed,
With all wars, everywhere, ended.

,על הניסים ועל הפרקן ועל הגבורות ועל התשועות ועל המלחמות
הנסתרות והנגלות, שנעשו, שנעשות, שיעשו איתנו
.בכל עת ועת, בימים האלה ובזמן הזה

We thank You for the miracles, the redemption, the heroics, the blessings, and the victories,
Hidden and revealed, that You did, are doing, and will do for us,
In every age, in these days and at this season.

Al hanissim v’al hapurkan v’al hagvurot v’al hat’shuot v’al hamilhamot, hanistarot v’haniglot, she’nasu, she’naasot she’yi’asu eitanu b’col et va’et bayamim ha’eleh u’vazman hazeh.

© 2024 Alden Solovy; traditional Hebrew adapted in collaboration with Avital Ordan

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Postscript: Thank you to Avital Ordan for her collaboration in adapting the traditional Hebrew.

Please check out Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe and These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah and my other CCAR Press volumes: This Grateful Heart, This Joyous Soul, and This Precious Life, which can also be purchased as the Grateful/Joyous/Precious trilogy. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. For a taste of my teaching, see my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer.”

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Tags: Chanukah, Hanukkah, hope, hostages, light, peace