Topic Tags: Israel

Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael wrote this prayer of comfort after Oct. 7, 2023.

“my memory reaches back / to the Galilee hills and carob trees…”

“limbs and tangled hair and soft center / walking ropy curls around herself in a fog…”

“The wilderness ahead blurs into an unknowable future…”

“An old olive tree stands in a grove, verdant, stately and strong…”

“May there never be another October 7th because men in high places, with loud voices, did not hear, did not listen…”

“And on another side, / children whose names the world never learned, / mothers who died calling for their babies, / fathers buried beneath silence.”

“Hoshiah na, / please save me from my hardened heart…”

“We are here, / in the Garden, / knocking on Your gates.”

“When I pray for peace, help me stay raw…”