This is a memorial prayer for grieving parents. On this day nine years ago, Rosh Chodesh Adar, the month in which joy is said to enter, eight Yeshiva students were murdered in a terrorist attack: Doron Maharate, Avraham David Moses, Yonatan Eldar, Yonadav Hirshfeld, Neria Cohen, Yochai Lifshitz, Ro’ee Roth, Segev Peniel Avichail. Today, I’m reposting this prayer in their memories. May their souls be linked in the chain of life. May all who’ve lost a child find comfort, strength and renewal. This prayer appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

Memorial Prayer for a Child
My child,
Dear _________________ [first name],
You are love in my heart
And tears in my eyes.
You are longing in my chest,
A well of memories,
Joyous and crushing,
Holy and touched by sorrow.
My yearning for you will never cease.

G-d of all Being,
Grant my/our son/daughter _______________ [full name]
A perfect rest under Your tabernacle of peace.
Guide his/her soul back to Your holy realm,
For he/she left this world
Too young,
Too soon,
With dreams unanswered
And hopes unfulfilled.

Grant our family strength as we move forward,
A tribute to Your healing
In memory of our dear son/daughter.
May his/her soul be bound up in the bond of life,
An eternal blessing in our midst.

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day

Postscript: This prayer was first posted on August 29, 2013. See also: “Meditation on the Burial of a Young Child,” “For Bereaved Children,” “After Shiva” and “For the Bereaved.”

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, 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.

Photo Source: TerredIsrael