Prayer for the Children of Abraham/ Ibrahim <https://theshalomcenter.org/content/prayer-children-abraham-ibrahim>
11/21/2012 This prayer for the living is meant to be prayed in community as a responsive reading. It was written by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat. <https://theshalomcenter.org/content/velveteenrabbi.com%20> You can follow her work at <https://theshalomcenter.org/content/velveteenrabbi.com%20> velveteenrabbi.com She is a poet, spiritual director, and the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams, MA For every aspiring ballerina huddled scared in a basement bomb shelter For every toddler in his mother's arms behind rubble of concrete and rebar For every child who's learned to distinguish "our" bombs from "their" bombs by sound For everyone wounded, cowering, frightened and everyone furious, planning for vengeance For the ones who are tasked with firing shells where there are grandmothers and infants For the ones who fix a rocket's parabola toward children on school playgrounds For every official who sees shelling Gaza as a matter of "cutting the grass" And every official who approves launching projectiles from behind preschools or prayer places For every kid taught to lob a bomb with pride And every kid sickened by explosions For every teenager who considers "martyrdom" his best hope for a future: May the God of compassion and the God of mercy God of justice and God of forgiveness God Who shaped creation in Her tender womb and nurses us each day with blessing God Who suffers the anxiety and pain of each of His unique children God Who yearns for us to take up the work of perfecting creation God Who is reflected in those who fight and in those who bandage the bleeding - May our Father, Mother, Beloved, Creator cradle every hurting heart in caring hands. Soon may we hear in the hills of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem in the olive groves of the West Bank and the apartment blocks of Gaza City in the kibbutz fields of the Negev and the neighborhoods of Nablus the voice of fighters who have traded weapons for books and ploughs and bread ovens the voice of children on swings and on slides singing nonsense songs, unafraid the voice of reconciliation and new beginnings in our day, speedily and soon. And let us say: amen. Notes: On "every aspiring ballerina huddled," see Twenty minutes in a Tel Aviv bomb shelter <http://jewschool.com/2012/11/16/29774/twenty-minutes-in-a-tel-aviv-bomb-she lter/> , Jewschool. On children distinguishing bombs by sound, see A message to Israel <http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/a-message-to-israel-s-leaders-don-t-defend-m e-not-like-this.premium-1.478105> 's leaders: Don't defend me - not like this, Ha'aretz. On "mowing the grass," see Israel, Gaza, and the patterns of the past <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/19/israel-gaza-an d-the-patterns-of-the-past/> , Washington Post. On "projectiles / from behind preschools or prayer places," see Dealing <http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=292646> with Hamas's human shield tactics, Jerusalem Post. "Soon may we hear." is a reference to the final blessing in the set of Sheva Brachot / Seven Blessings <http://www.interfaithfamily.com/life_cycle/weddings/The_Seven_Blessings.sht ml> recited at every Jewish wedding. As a mother, as a human being, as a Jew, and as a rabbi, this prayer/poem is the best articulation I can offer of what my heart and soul are feeling right now. I pray for God to heal the hearts of all who suffer: Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and non-Jews, "us" and "them," combatants on both sides, those who fear on both sides, those who mourn on both sides, those who benefit from the existing systems in place and those who struggle within those systems. Please, God, speedily and soon. - RB All are welcome to share and to use this prayer in your community if it speaks to you, as long as you preserve its origin / attribution. * * * Please come! Please share this invitation widely, and download a digital copy of the <http://progressive.org/node/162293> 100TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE of the PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE -- CLICK ON application/pdf icon <http://progressive.org/sites/default/files/mag/pdfs/theprogressive_april200 9_0.pdf> theprogressive_april2009.pdf Please join Co-Hosts Santa Monica Democratic Club, American For Democratic Action, Aris Anagnos, Cynthia Anderson & Tim Barker, Sylvia Aroth, Zane & Ricky Averbach,, Chris Bennett, Peter and Roz Bonerz, Joe Cicero, Jeff Cook, Gleam Davis (Santa Monica City Council member), Roger Davis Larry Frank ( LA City Deptuy Mayor), Lila Garrett, Lori Grace, Lyle Gregory, Chris Harding & Laurie Lieberman, Patricia Hoffman & Gene Oppenheim, Mimi Kennedy, Sharon Kyle, Jerry Manpearl & Jan Goodman, Nina & Marc Merson, Fred Nobel & Diane J Dykema, Torie Osborn, Brad Parker, Ed Pearl, Ilene Proctor, Ed Rampell, Will Ryan, Dorothy Reik, Stanley & Betty Sheinbaum, Lester Silverman, Paul Allan Smith, Suzanne Thompson, Laurie Traktman, Carl Volpe, Roger Wolfson, and Dino Zonic. Sunday - doors open 2:30- program 3pm December 2, 2012 Raise Cash and Consciousness for THE PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE Since 1909 cid:[email protected] Jim Hightower speaks cid:[email protected] Jackson Browne sings with: Ruth Conniff, Political Editor of The Progressive, (contributor, The Ed Schultz show, MSNBC) Matthew Rothschild, Editor & Publisher of The Progressive Will Durst, stand-up comic Additional unconfirmed guests Stay tuned for more progressive celebrities joining us And Honoring Pioneer Philanthropist Lori Grace for her role protecting Election Integrity and Environmental Causes SEATING IS LIMITED-RESERVATIONS PLEASE PLEASE MAKE RESERVTIONS (YES, NO, MAYBE) At the Home of Jerry Manpearl & Jan Goodman 939 San Vicente Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90402 (N-W CORNER OF Larkin/10th & San Vicente Blvd) 2:30 (program 3pm) $100 Donation Requested (tax deductible) $75 - Members of ADA, PDLA, PDSMM, Sholem, Democratic Clubs RESERVATIONS/Contact JAN GOODMAN or JERRY MANPEARL <tel:310-458-7213> 310-458-7213 or <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Online Reservations and Donations: Go to: <http://www.progressive.org/donate> www.progressive.org/donate In the "Acknowledgment" box, write 12/2/12 and the number of tickets THE PROGRESSIVE: Founded by Wisconsin Senator Fighting Bob La Follette on January 9, 1909, the magazine is known for combating corporate power and for championing civil rights and civil liberties, women's rights, LGBT rights, labor rights, human rights, environmentalism, criminal justice reform, and democratic reform. It has been a forum for America's leading social critics, including Jane Addams, James Baldwin, John Kenneth Galbraith, Molly Ivins, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King, Upton Sinclair, and Howard Zinn. Leading liberal politicians and luminaries have contributed to The Progressive, including Helen Gahagan Douglas, George McGovern, Gaylord Nelson, Norman Thomas, Paul Wellstone, Barbara Ehrenreich, Dolores Huerta, Eduardo Galeano, Barbara Kingsolver, Naomi Klein, Robert Redford, and Terry Tempest Williams. The Progressive has published interviews with James Cromwell, Danny Glover, Charles Ferguson, Tom Morello, Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Cenk Uygur, and Lizz Winstead. _____ No virus found in this message. 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