Posts Tagged ‘Texas’

 

For Colleyville, Texas

Posted on: January 16th, 2022 by Alden

This is a prayer of healing for the hostages freed from Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, Texas, as well as the congregation and the community. In 2015 I served as the Selichot Scholar-In-Residence for three Tarrant County Reform Congregations, including Beth Israel. The invitation came from their rabbi, my friend Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. The Hebrew stanza in this prayer is from Psalm 121. See also: “You of Blood and Venom,” “After a Deadly Anti-Semitic Attack” and “Racist Violence Against Houses of Worship.”

For Colleyville, Texas
G-d who frees the slave and liberates the captive,
Look with mercy on the people of Colleyville, Texas,
Congregation Beth Israel,
And the rescued hostages there,
Victims of hatred and antisemitism.
Grant them shelter and solace,
Comfort and consolation,
Blessing and renewal,
So that recovery can begin,
Leading to a complete restoration
Of heart, mind, and spirit.
Release them from suffering.
Release them from trauma.
Return them in wholeness to life.
Bless the first responders
And law enforcement professionals
Who brought their hearts and their skills
To the hours of standoff
And to the task of rescue.
May they also know freedom
From the horror of this ordeal.

To those of hate and terror,
In any land, of any faith,
You will not succeed.
To the anti-Semite,
My people have seen your kind
For generations.
We have outlived you all.
To our Muslim and Christian brothers and sisters
Who abhor violence and eschew hatred,
Let us extend our hands to one another
So that this community can heal,
So that throughout the world
We become a shining light of blessing.

!הנה לא־ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל
.ה’ ישמרך מכל-רע, ישׁמר את-נפשך
Hinei lo-yanum v’lo yishan shomer Yisrael!
Adonai yishmarekha mikol-ra, yishmor et-nafshecha.
See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!
G-d shall keep you from all evil, G-d will keep your soul.

Heavenly Guide,
Hand of love and shelter,
Grant the people of Colleyville, Texas,
Your protection,
Your wholeness and healing,
And Your peace.

© 2022 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com.

New here? Subscribe here to get my newest prayers by email.
Share the prayer! Email this to a friend.

Postscript: See also, “Tree of Life, Pittsburgh,” “Ma’oz Tzur for Pittsburgh,” “Prayer for the Jews of Germany,” and “For the Jews of France.”

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and my two CCAR Press books: This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings 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: NPR

Against Detaining Children

Posted on: June 26th, 2019 by Alden

This prayer is in response to the detention of children at the U.S. border, as well as the tragic deaths of innocents there and in the custody of the federal government. The first stanza alludes to the Emma Lazarus sonnet, New Colossus, which appears on a plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus calls the border “our sunset gates” and the statue “the Mother of Exiles.” The closing line is from the siddur, the Jewish prayer book, from the section called birkot hashachar, the morning blessings. The format of the prayer follows other social justice prayers, such as “Against Gun Violence” and “Against Hunger.”

Against Detaining Children
G-d of the captive,
G-d of the imprisoned and detained,
The voice of heartbreak echoes across the land,
Children rejected at our sunset gates,
The Mother of Exiles weeps for the innocent,
Their journey to Liberty bringing detention, deprivation and death.
Has compassion fled our borders?
Has the lamp at our door been extinguished?
Has Justice abandoned her post?

Source of comfort and hope,
You call upon us to stand in the name of the children,
To witness against mistreatment and neglect,
To fight a government that separates parents from minors
At the border of our nation,
Flaunting power,
Ignoring decency and law,
Allowing the innocent to die.

Bless those who dedicate their lives to human rescue.
Grant them the fortitude to battle in the name
Of the unknown, the unseen,
Those who cannot be forgotten.
May the work of their hands never falter,
Nor despair deter them from their holy calling.

Bless those in human bondage with hope and courage.
Grant them the strength and the fortitude
To face the indignities and privation forced upon them.
Hasten their release.
Grant them lives of health and prosperity,
Joy and peace.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who releases the captive.
.ברוך אתה יי אלהינו מלך העולם, מתיר אסורים
Baruch ata Adonai Eloheynu melech ha-olam, matir asurim.

© 2019 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com

New here? Subscribe here to get my newest prayers by email.
Share the prayer! Email this to a friend.

Postscript: The final two stanzas of this prayer, prior to the closing line, are adapted from “Against Human Trafficking.” See also: Against Poverty“and “Against Tyranny,” as well as various Psalms of Protest.

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: The New Yorker

“Alden has become one of Reform Judaism’s master poet-liturgists…" - Religion News Service, Dec. 23, 2020

“Mesmerizing, spiritual, provocative, and thoughtful, Alden was everything you would want in a guest scholar and teacher.” – Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, Los Angeles, and Past President, CCAR

"Alden Solovy has become one of the most revered liturgists of the last decade…" - Jewish Post & Opinion, March 29, 2023

“Alden left everyone feeling inspired.” – Cantor Jeri Robins, Shabbat Chair, NewCAJE6