Unetaneh Tokef: Facing our Environmental Challenge

We declare the sacred power of this day
We stand on the edge of possibility and loss
Like the angels, let us sound the great shofarA ram's horn that is blown on the High Holidays to "wake us up" and call Jews to repentance. It is also said that its blast will herald the coming of the messiah.
Let us strain to hear the still small voice
calling us
To awareness
To hope
To truth
That we face a world where we are more vulnerable
To fires that can’t be contained,
Heat that overwhelms,
Mega-storms that scatter us like debris,
Bitter conflicts over water, oil, food,
Fossil fuel industries who put profits above the planet —
And the morally questionable banks that finance them
Species that are losing their last foothold in our world.
Let us turn to our ancient wisdom
To teshuvah – a shift in consciousness
TefillahLit. Prayer – sharing our yearnings and our grief
And tzedakahCharity. In Hebrew, the word tzedakah derives from the word for justice. Tzedakah is not seen as emanating from the kindness of one’s heart but, rather, as a communal obligation. – always the work of justice
So that we can write ourselves into the book of compassion and resilience
Each of us letters of light facing the darkness