Prayer from the Heart in the Time of COVID-19

We hold in our hearts all who are serving our community to keep us safe, many at risk to their own lives:

those who keep the electricity on and the water flowing

those who provide food for our tables and healthcare for the sick

those who clean and repair and pick up the trash

those working in factories and transporting packages

those who are serving governments around the world in good faith

those developing new vaccines and treatments

those who help to keep the peace and to put out literal and figurative fires

those creatively adapting to teaching students and leading communities

those caring for the dying, the dead, and the bereaved

and those caring for children and elders.

We also hold in our hearts all for whom these times are particularly challenging:

those for whom sheltering at home is a danger

those who do not have a home

those who cannot go home

those who cannot visit with loved ones

those suffering from debilitating mental illness

those who have lost their sense of purpose

and those who are hungry.

TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general. commands us to love the stranger as ourselves, to remember that we were strangers in the land of Egypt.  Even as we shelter at home, may our love and acts of justice extend far beyond our households to support those in need of sustenance, protection, and healing. 

May a Sukkat Shalom—a Shelter of Peace—spread over all of humanity.  And we say, Amen