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Here’s another new prayer for peace in our land. I wrote this and another prayer for peace on behalf of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and it first appeared on RavBlog. Both prayers were inspired by the yearnings and insights of the rabbis who participated in the CCAR Israel Solidarity Mission. Given the end of the cease fire, I’m posting it here for the first time. Please pray for peace.
When Peace Comes: A Meditation
When peace comes,
When the tunnels are gone and the walls come down,
When we sing together as brothers and sisters,
We will remember these days of sorrow and grief,
Of rockets and terror,
Of longing and despair,
As a memorial to those who were lost,
As a remembrance of our mourning,
As a monument to our yearning,
On the road to wholeness,
On the road to wisdom,
On the road to our days of rejoicing.
Oh you children of Abraham,
You sons and daughters of Sarah and Hagar,
What will you become?
How long before shalom and salaam
Echo in these hills,
In these valleys and on these shores,
As shouts of awe and amazement?
How long before we remember
To hold each other dear?
One G-d,
Maker of All,
Banish war from our midst.
Speedily bring forth justice, understanding and love.
Bind these wounds and heal our hearts.
On that day the children of Ishmael
And the children of Isaac
Will dance as one.
Joy will rise to heaven
And gladness will fill the earth.
© 2014 CCAR, Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.
Postscript:Here are links to other prayers I’ve written during this difficult time: “To Win the Peace,” “Children of Gaza, Children of Israel,” “Yizkor for a Lone Soldier,” “The Soldiers on This Mountain,” “For the IDF, Operation Protective Edge,” “They Were Boys: A Yizkor Prayer,” written in memory of Gil-ad Shaer, Iyal Yifrah and Naftali Fraenkel, z”l, and “Another Boy Lost: A Jewish Yizkor for an Arab Son” written in memory of Muhammad Abu Khdeir. Thank you Rabbis Hara Person and Donald Goor for your faith and confidence in my work.
My prayer “For Peace in the Middle East” appears in a new compilation “The Hope: American Voices in Support of Israel.” Proceeds of the sale of that book go to the Lone Soldier Center.
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