Posts Tagged ‘kids in war’

 

When Peace Comes: A Meditation

Posted on: August 21st, 2014 by Alden

peace_in_the_middle_east_logo_2[1]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.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. Please take a moment to explore my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

To Win the Peace

Posted on: August 6th, 2014 by Alden

SONY DSCWith a ceasefire that appears to be holding, it’s time to pray an audacious prayer: a prayer to win the peace. It’s a prayer for security, an end to terror, the road to reconciliation, the path to hope, abundance and prosperity. The big fantastic audacious prayer: that we will be bold enough to try something different, living together, not dying together.

To Win the Peace
The missiles are silent, for now.
And sirens still echo in our hearts.
The tunnels are shut, for now.
And foreboding still vibrates from below.
Funerals on both sides of the front.
Fallen soldiers, buried.
And reunions. Grateful reunions.
Trauma and rubble.
Families grieve. So many lost.
We remember them all.
Three Israeli boys, one Arab son,
Dead at the hand of hate.

To win the war,
Let us win the peace.

G-d of All,
Bless the leaders of Israel
With a vision of safety and renewal for all in our land
And for all of our neighbors.
Grant our leaders insight and understanding.
Direct them on the road to security and reconciliation.
Make them a shining light of valor and hope.

Grant the leaders of Hamas the courage
To end their campaign of terror,
And grant the leaders of the PA the wisdom
To boldly travel on a journey
Toward an abundant and prosperous future.
Direct them on the road to compromise.
Make them a shining light of peace.

Grant physical and emotional safety to
Citizens, residents and all who dwell in these lands.
Through our hard work, let this time of struggle and challenge
Become a blessing to the world.

To win the war,
Let us win the peace.

Blessed are You, G-d of All,
Forging nations and peoples
In the crucible of change
Throughout history.

© 2014 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Thank you to my friend Rabbi Bob Carroll for his review and comment on an earlier draft. Here are links to other prayers I’ve written during this difficult time: “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.  I also wrote two prayers inspired by the thoughts and hopes of 14 visiting rabbis from the CCAR Solidarity Mission to Israel. I had the honor of leading this amazing group in a prayer writing workshop.

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.

Please take a moment to explore my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Children of Gaza, Children of Israel

Posted on: August 2nd, 2014 by Alden

arab_jewish_boys.jpg.w560h384This is a new prayer for peace, a prayer about love, a prayer that sees the beauty in all children. For more than two weeks, people have been asking for a prayer focused on the children here in Israel caught in this war. It took longer to conceive than I expected. I hope you find meaning in it. It has a similar intention as my prayer “For Peace in the Middle East.” It also fits nicely with two prayers I wrote on behalf of the CCAR Solidarity Mission to Israel.

Children of Gaza, Children of Israel
Dear Children,
What can we say to you in times of war?
What can we say when you run for shelter, not for joy,
When you hide, not to seek, but huddle in fear?
No, it is not a game when you
Cry tears of dread in the night.

O grief,
O war and terror,
You have stolen our children.
You have stolen our rest.
And now you wish to steal our hope
In tomorrow.

Children of Gaza and Israel,
We pray for you to find each other,
In laughter and friendship,
Before someone teaches you
Anger and hatred,
While you are still pure with
Curiosity and wonder.

Children of Israel and Gaza,
We pray for you to find comfort
In the cradle of your mothers’ arms,
In the bosom of quiet and peace,
Without rocket or mortar to break
The gentle stillness of the air,
The lovely silence of the night.

One G-d,
Maker of All,
Is this too much to ask?
Is this too much to dream?
That one day all children of the world
Will run with glee toward one another,
Will hold hands together in delight,
To skip and twirl and dance
To the rhythms of peace?

© 2014 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer is very much “in the moment,” being focused on Gaza and Israel. I also plan to write and post a more general prayer for all children of war. 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. Thanks to my friend Michele Chabin for her comments on an earlier draft of this prayer. Here are two more prayers about our children: “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. For more prayers about Israel, please click here.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Debbi Cooper Photography

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