Thirteen Birds
Thirteen Hamas hostages were released on Friday evening, the first of a planned set of four releases, totaling 50 hostages. On Saturday another 13 or 14…
Read articleThe Court of the Captives
This is a prayer poem for all of the hostages in Gaza. We at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies have a special link to hostage…
Read articleNothing Left but Tears
A new song in response to the terror invasion into Israel by Hamas. Lyrics by Alden Solovy, Music by Sue Radner Horowitz. Watch and listen to…
Read articleTears and Rain: A Prayer for Success in War
On Shemini Atzeret — combined with Simchat Torah here in Israel — we began to say tefilat geshem the prayer for rain since the day marks…
Read articleWar on Simchat Torah
Shabbat Simchat Torah 5784 / 2023. I’ve been inside a bomb shelter more today than in the entire 11.5 years I’ve been in Israel combined. ‘This…
Read articleFor Three Leaders, For the World
A new prayer for Ukraine and the world. The intention of this prayer is flexibility in use. The three middle stanzas can be removed from the…
Read articleHero of Ukraine
This prayer-poem for the people of Ukraine incorporates a quote from Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, writing from St. Petersburg Citadel Prison in May, 1847,…
Read articleYizkor for a Lone Soldier
Young men and women from all over the world leave their families and come alone to Israel to live the dream of building lives here and serving…
Read articleTo the Soldier, To the Veteran
This is a prayer of honor for veterans. It’s a three-stanza prayer/poem with a parallel structure in each stanza. It is from a liturgy for Veterans Day. To listen along, click on…
Read articleThe Last Soldier
This is a prayer for peace that honors the soldier’s ultimate mission: peace. This prayer, and “Yizkor for a Soldier,” appear in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and…
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