Posts tagged ‘sorrow’

Hallel in Peril

On Rosh Chodesh Elul, how can we recite Hallel — joyous psalms of praise — in fear for the State of Israel? The proposed and enacted…

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Duet of Joy and Sorrow

“I consider it a spiritual awakening that I can hold grief and joy simultaneously, that they exist side by side,” I told Michael Liben on his…

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Hallel in a Minor Key

This Hallel is for singing praises in times of struggle or sorrow. “Hallel in a Minor Key” is the name of both the liturgy and the…

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Mourner’s Lament

A short meditation about the daily shifts that mourners may experience on the journey to healing, based on my own experiences of mourning. I wrote it…

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All Things Burn

A prayer after the fire at Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral. And here’s a prayer to be said “For Firefighters.” All Things Burn All things burn, Are buried…

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For Those Who Die Young

Ten. Ten dead young people are dead who shouldn’t be. A hiking tragedy in the land I love, in the canyons that I hike, led by…

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Spiritual Vandals

A song of the Spiritual Traveler, the one who has a profoundly unexpected experience with angels at the gates of mercy. As a result of that…

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After a Sudden Death

This is a prayer of grief and loss after the sudden death of a dear one. See also: “Angel of Rest,” “Birthday No More” and “Hard…

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Travel after an Unexpected Death

This is a prayer to be said upon traveling to attend a funeral after an unexpected death. The blank line is for inserting the name of the…

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Sorrow at a Time of Joy

This meditation is for moments in which an unexpected grief arrives in a moment of joy. A family death before a bar mitzvah. A sudden illness…

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