Communal Tragedy

Memorial wall with photos and plaques honoring Yitzhak Rabin at Tel Aviv assassination site.

As individuals, we all know pain and loss. It is the rare person who escapes sorrow. But when one of us hurts, others are there to offer comfort. Communal tragedy is different. When something bad happens to us as a community—whether that is a school, a town, a people, or a country—we struggle to figure out how to tend to our own wounds while taking care of each other. Drawing on compassion, empathy, justice, and love, we can bring out the best in each other, and perhaps, find a theology of hope in the midst of despair.

Latest Rituals

“Fill each of us with Your Holy Presence and with the light of hope…”
Hands forming a heart shape framing the sun at sunset in a scenic, open field with silhouetted trees.
“It could have been anyone standing there…”
Black and white photo of hands gently holding a single daisy flower against a dark background.
“May we remember that we have not come onto this earth to foment hate, anger, and division…”
A spiral collage of diverse faces of people of all ages and backgrounds, arranged in a circular pattern.
Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael wrote this prayer of comfort after Oct. 7, 2023.
A white rosebud covered in water droplets against a dark green blurred background.
“May there never be another October 7th because men in high places, with loud voices, did not hear, did not listen…”
Stone stairway leading up a dry, rocky hill to a small building under a clear blue sky.
“The world owed them better. / The world owed them more.”
A single red poppy growing beside a railway track, surrounded by small rocks and green foliage.
“Hoshiah na, / please save me from my hardened heart…”
Red heart carved into a rough, textured tree bark with cracks and some patches of green moss.
“We are here, / in the Garden, / knocking on Your gates.”
A stack of rocks on a desert landscape with distant mountains under a clear blue sky.
“When I pray for peace, help me stay raw…”
A dirt path lined with olive trees and stone walls leads through a scenic landscape under a clear blue sky.

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