A Prayer for the Jewish People Right Now
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
We are holding our children, our mothers,
our elders, our parents, our teachers, our grandchildren,
our warriors, our babies, our peacekeepers.
We are holding our very soul.
God, protect our children's minds and hearts
from the images emblazoned now in our eyes ,
from the nightmare that has somehow become real.
Our enemy, the face of real evil,
seeks to destroy our family, body and soul.
God, protect our protectors, Israel's Defense Forces
who are, after all, only children.
They are our children fighting for our future.
Shield them as they serve
as a sword we hate to need.
We must be like steel. We must be like iron.
But we must never lose our warm and loving hearts along the way.
We will fight until they are all erased
from under the face of the Heavens.
We have no choice.
So, God, please hold our hearts.
Let us not become hard like stone
as we do what we must to save our lives,
and as we demand of the world to bear witness
as we fight for our very existence.
One day soon, please God,
as we will do the intense work of healing,
when our family unites in the great work of rebuilding,
we will breathe more easily.
But, please God, help us remember to breathe
as we do this urgent work now,
amidst the grief and pain.
May the Holy One hold all of our sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, children, and elders, all of us fighting for our lives and for the survival of Am Yisrael.
May our soldiers do what they must, facing evil with inner strength and unwavering courage, knowing that we love them and that we are sending all of our strength to them.
May the Shomer Yisrael, God the Protector, guard our sisters and brothers in captivity, and return them all home in safety.
God, be within us as we make this promise, once again: Am Yisrael Chai.
Amen.
