This is a prayer/poem about leaving Israel, Jerusalem in particular. I wrote it on July 3, 2011, on the drive from Jerusalem to Ben-Gurion Airport and was able to post it before my flight boarded. Here’s a list of the other prayers and poems I wrote on that trip: “To Find Home,” “Sages,” “The Way Home” and “A Song that Holds My Heart.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

The Road Out
The road out of Jerusalem is down, always down.
Down from the steppes of beauty,
Down from the mount of glory,
Away from G-d’s voice
Still echoing through sacred ground.

The road out of Jerusalem is paved with exile,
With love,
With longing,
With tears.

G-d of our fathers and mothers,
Rachel still cries when we leave the land,
By force or by choice.
The soil still feels our exit,
One less Jewish soul,
One less Jewish heart,
One less Jewish spirit.

Holy One,
Bring us speedily back to the land of our ancestors,
Our dreams,
Our history.
Bring us speedily back to you,
G-d of ages,
In love.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Click here for more prayers and meditations about Israel.

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy