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

“What about the kids in war, my nieces ask? / They hide, the eldest says.”
birds fly in a dark sky
“Once upon the time / last weekend, something changed the composition of my body, / my memories, / and the way that I breathe.”
candle in the darkness
“I find peace in the world /not in running away from it.”
flowers against a blue sky
“Two weeks / have passed / since rockets / split the skies, / and invaders / split our hearts.”
The Kotel at night
“I pray for a swift end to this unwanted war.”
the night sky
“We are all mourners now / Needing, wanting, giving comfort / For ourselves…” For each other.”
people embrace in tears
“We are in mourning; / our people are in mourning; / collectively we are sitting shiva.”
a candle and red flowers
“Tzur Yisrael, Rock of Israel, May our devotion remain steadfast”
A goat stands in the Negev desert
“Oh this heartbreak,  Silence howling.  Oh this heart ache,  Terror prowling…” 
face of person crying against dark light

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