Posts from the ‘Better World’ category

Social justice, national tragedy, war and natural disasters.

O Auschwitz, O Birkenau

Five days in Poland. My first trip. I began writing this meditation on the bus after a day at Auschwitz-Birkenau, but couldn’t complete it. We’d already…

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You of Blood and Venom: A Prayer of the Jewish People

A prayer against the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world. This prayer is a declaration that the Jewish people will survive. The…

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Jew against Jew, Revised

This is a prayer for Jews to love each other and not to commit acts of violence against one another. It is part lament and part…

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Prayer for the Jews of Germany

A prayer for the Jews of Germany after the Yom Kippur attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany. This prayer incorporates a line added to the…

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For Whistleblowers and Watchdogs: Psalm of Protest 16

Here’s a new Psalm of Protest celebrating the role of watchdogs and whistleblowers in defending democratic ideals and institutions. See also: “Sing with Liberty: Psalm of…

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Tree of Life, Pittsburgh (Hebrew)

This is a Hebrew interpretation of my acrostic, “Tree of Life, Pittsburgh,” a response to the Oct. 27, 2018, shooting. The Hebrew and English versions are…

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Sing with Liberty

This prayer/song is based on “New Colossus,” the sonnet by Emma Lazarus appearing on a plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Those familiar…

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Tree of Life, Pittsburgh

This acrostic spelling out “Tree of Life Pittsburgh Tree of Life” will be used on Yom Kippur in a new Martyrology created by Rabbi Jeffrey Myers,…

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O Freedom: Psalm of Protest 14

A Psalm of Protest for U.S. Independence Day 2019. It’s the 14th in a series of social protest prayers using the voice of the Psalmist. See…

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Against Detaining Children

This prayer is in response to the detention of children at the U.S. border, as well as the tragic deaths of innocents there and in the…

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