poetry and prayer

A Blessing for Those Who Keep Showing Up

The moments that test our humanity have a way of returning. In the spring of 2020, as images of separated families and children in cages pierced our collective consciousness, something beautiful emerged alongside the heartbreak. Voices rose from every corner of our communities—neighbors, friends, strangers —all refusing to let cruelty masquerade as policy. In that …

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menorah with 3 lights plus shamash. Labradoodle behind on the couch

Hanukkah Inspirations Night 3: What 3 musicians or poets inspire you?

Tonight we light the 3rd candle. Our question for tonight’s lighting is: What 3 musicians, poets, or artists inspire you? Many of us turn to art, poetry, and music for inspiration and light. It is so important to nurture the creative sides of ourselves. Music and poetry and art express what is often difficult to …

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When Words Seem to Fail: Draft a Poem

Early on a Tuesday morning in 2022, a dear member of our Hineni community who lives in Chicago and is a wonderful poet alerted me to the unfolding tragedy in Highland Park, Illinois. Another mass shooting, this time at a Fourth of July parade that I remember attending growing up on the North Shore of …

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Hanukkah Night #3: Music & Poetry

Tonight we light the 3rd candle for Hanukkah. Each night we are responding to a different question related to how we bring light into the world. Our question tonight is: What 3 musicians, poets, or artists inspire you? This past year has been challenging, as we have continued to live in the unknown. Seeking inspiration …

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Are You Ready To Take A Breath?

Stop right now. Put your hand on your heart and take a breath. What a time we are in. There is so much free-floating anxiety and fear. Trust in institutions is shattered. It is not only the political climate. There is the fear of out-of-control climate change and the coronavirus. Truth itself is questioned. We …

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Increase the Light

Tonight we light the 3rd candle of Hanukkah. The story of Hanukkah is that even in the darkest of times, we make light. The tradition is that we light a new candle for each of the 8 nights of the holiday, thereby increasing the light each night. The rabbis understood that light was not just …

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You Were Created For Just This Moment

Please – for just one moment – Breathe in: You are a precious sacred being unlike any other on this earth. Exhale: love & compassion for every other creature on this earth. You were created for just this moment – to be uniquely you in this world so desperately in need of love & compassion that …

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A Prayer For One Who Enters A Synagogue

I wrote this prayer after the massacre of Jews at prayer at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. A gunman, stoked by the anti-immigrant rhetoric and desiring to do harm to the synagogue which was connected to Jewish efforts to support immigrants and asylum seekers, stormed into the synagogue on Shabbat, spraying bullets everywhere. …

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