Communal Tragedy

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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.

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“Two weeks / have passed / since rockets / split the skies, / and invaders / split our hearts.”
“I pray for a swift end to this unwanted war.”
“We are all mourners now / Needing, wanting, giving comfort / For ourselves…” For each other.”
“We are in mourning; / our people are in mourning; / collectively we are sitting shiva.”
“Tzur Yisrael, Rock of Israel, May our devotion remain steadfast”
“Oh this heartbreak,  Silence howling.  Oh this heart ache,  Terror prowling…” 
“we must turn from death and war / and learn again the message of hope and love and peace.”
“She fights for her life, while I panic in my room, / thousands of miles away, in plain clothes…”
“I am afraid to wear a kippah, to put on my Star of David, / or to even look or seem a little Jewish…”

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