265 - Mourning a Synagogue

May 30, 2002

A forwarded email from Jonathan Friendly, the editor at the Jewish Community newsletter, revealed a need of painfully increasing frequency. The correspondent wrote that newspapers had reported the destruction of her childhood synagogue, Derech Emunah in Rockaway Beach, New York. Arson was suspected; arson attempts had been made twice before. Were there appropriate prayers, she wondered, for the loss of a synagogue?

Two Hundred Sixty-Four

Mourning a Synagogue

Broken, tortured walls confront me,
Blackened shell of beloved place;
Here I learned to sing our cycle's songs,
Here was community and family, Torah.

Merciful One, You do not dwell in walls,
But these walls were holy;
Their destruction damages my very structure,
I too am shaken, displaced.

Yet harsh evidence of hatred cannot alter memory,
Remembrance dwells in hearts and souls;
Let mourning honor perseverance of community,
Immutable, it is the essence of heritage.

Merciful One, cleanse without and within,
Remove hatred from our midst;
Transform me, heal me, clarify my vision,
Soothe my anger, bring me peace.

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