A Prayer in Time of War
At this time of conflict we turn to you, God, as the Creator of all human beings. each of us made in Your image, each of us equal in Your sight. Our sages have taught, whoever takes a single human life, it is as if they have destroyed an entire world.
They also taught, in that hour when the Egyptians drowned in the Sea of Reeds, the angels wished to sing a song of praise before God. But God rebuked them, saying, My children are drowning in the sea, would you utter a song before me in honour of that?!
Be with your children of all nations and religions, and give them strength and courage in this time of uncertainty and fear. Any war claims its victims on all sides. Have mercy on them and bring this conflict speedily to an end, so that its casualties may be few and damage light; so that acts of violence and bloodshed may be replaced with words and acts of conciliation. Shelter under Your care those who perish and show compassion to those who mourn for them. For those injured in body or mind, bring perfect healing, so that their lives are not destroyed.
May the One who brings peace in the highest, bring peace to us, to all Israel and to the whole world and let us say: Amen.
This is one of the prayers from our new draft of the Migwan Siddur. I am not comforted by the fact that it was written some fifty years ago, because then, as now, we have an urgent need to pray for peace throughout the world.
Join us for the Friday night potluck on June 20 and the Shacharit on June 21. The next two dates after the summer break are first a Zoom meeting with Rabbi Avigail on Sunday evening, August 3, on the topic of Tisha Ba'Av, the holiday on which we remember so many dates in our history when catastrophe occurred, from the fall of the first and second temples to the fall of the Warsaw Ghetto, to name a few. Then on August 15 and 16, we have another Friday and Saturday to celebrate Shabbat. Our services are simply wonderful when we have old and new faces, people from near and far and as many children as possible at Migwan.
The festival of Shavuot is the major festival before the summer. Do join us on the last weekend of May, from Friday to Sunday June 1st, for recollections about the Book of Ruth, and the Ten Commandments, given to us and the whole world thereafter at Sinai. Let us renew our commitment to our Judaism, to the Mitzvot, to our history and traditions. And above all, to supporting Migwan move forward confidently and well-supported, into the future.
אם אין אני לי מי לי Rabbi Hillel used to say: If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?
Chag Shavuot Sameach
Chava Fleming (chava@migwan.ch)