Originally published June 27, 2024
It was wonderful to see so many folks from Temple Shalom and the broader community at Sunday’s Walk for Israel. I was proud to represent Temple Shalom and our values. Below are the words that I shared on Sunday:
Earlier this week, I heard Ayelet Tsabari, Yemenite-Israeli author, speak at an event organized by Naamat Hamilton. She spoke of her decision to return to Israel a few months ago, after spending some time with her young family in Canada immediately after October 7.
One friend, an Iranian, here in Canada, urged her to return home, saying “at least there, you can breathe together.”
That’s why we’re here this morning – to breathe together, to be together, to march together, to know that we, as a Diaspora Jewish community, are not alone, that our Israeli family are not alone. We breathe together.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Herschel famously said that when he marched for civil rights, his feet were praying. Today, both our feet and our souls pray. I share this prayer for the captive women and children, written by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch, CEO, Women of Reform Judaism. She wrote this prayer back in October, and its urgency and importance are only increased as we know more about the experience of the hostages in Gaza.
Our God, the God of our ancestors
Free all those captured in war.
Free the captive women:
Free our mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts.
Free the babies and children,
senselessly, violently kidnapped.
Fulfill that great mitzvah, that holy duty
Of redeeming the captive.
May they all return, swiftly
To their families and their homes.
May women’s bodies be sacred and safe.
Shekhinah, nurturing presence, watch over them.
Guard them.
Protect them.
Bring them home.
ברוך אתה יי מתיר אסורות
Baruch Ata Adonai, matir asurot.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, who frees the captive.
