On Friday it will be day 700 of captivity for the hostages held in Gaza, an impossible and incomprehensible number. Days of hell in the tunnels of hell. Days of yearning and agony for their families. Days of fear and terror. Here is “How to Count to 700” for your personal use and perhaps for Shabbat evening services. Use the icon below to download a PDF of all of my meditations on counting since 7 October 2023.
How to Count to 700
Paint a stone yellow.
Then paint another.
And another.
Paint 700 stones
For 700 days
In the tunnels of hell.
If you are brave,
You will keep painting.
Paint stones yellow
Until you are exhausted
And famished
And have lost all track of time.
Paint until there is nothing
But darkness and yellow.
Then, maybe then,
You will know
The impossible
Reality
Of 700.
© 2025 Alden Solovy
Postscript: I am currently the student Rabbi at Or HaTzafon, Light of the North, Jewish Congregation of Fairbanks, AK. Follow my essays on this adventure with my “Torah Borealis” substack enewsletter. Check it out by clicking here.
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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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