This year at Passover I’m thinking about the natural disasters that have struck our planet; including earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. A friend of mine from the Rabbinic Training Institute, Rabbi Menachem Creditor wrote a beautiful prayer that I would like you to consider saying at your sederim. Please also consider adding a fifth question to the traditional four questions posed by the youngest child at the table, “Why on this night are millions of people going hungry?” Mazon, a Jewish Response to Hunger, has provided us with a placemat that we can use at our seder table to remind us of families that live from hand-to-mouth, not knowing where their next meal is coming from. In the Passover Hagadah, we read “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” If you have an extra place at your table, or would like to accept home hospitality from one of our members, please call the office so that we can all celebrate in this Feast of Freedom.
Wishing you a zissen Pesach,
Rabbi Shalom Plotkin
A Prayer in Response to the Earthquake and Tsunami
March 11, 2011
Dear God,
Many, many images of God have been lost in earthquake
and fire and mighty waters today.
And so we turn to You, Adonai,
and we ask for Your strength and comfort.
We open our hearts one to the other
as brothers and sisters struggling in Your world.
“Above the thunder of the mighty waters,
more majestic than the breakers of the sea is Adonai (Ps. 93:4).”
Be with us as we offer what we can, through prayer and action,
to our sisters and brothers who are suffering in Japan
and who stand on alert around the world.
We ask for You to be the still, small voice after the fire,
allowing space for mourning and hope in the face of tragedy.
We see Your sheltering Presence and Your holy tears
in the receding waters of the Tsunami
and in the rescue work being carried out
by so many for the sake of a fragile world.
May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors,
to send healing to the injured and comfort to those in mourning.
May You be with those who are engaged in the sacred work of rescue.
Be with us as we bring shelter, food, and water to those in need.
May we merit to save many lives.
May those affected by this disaster know Your comfort.
May we act when we learn how we can help.
May our world be blessed by peace. Amen.
Many, many images of God have been lost in earthquake
and fire and mighty waters today.
And so we turn to You, Adonai,
and we ask for Your strength and comfort.
We open our hearts one to the other
as brothers and sisters struggling in Your world.
“Above the thunder of the mighty waters,
more majestic than the breakers of the sea is Adonai (Ps. 93:4).”
Be with us as we offer what we can, through prayer and action,
to our sisters and brothers who are suffering in Japan
and who stand on alert around the world.
We ask for You to be the still, small voice after the fire,
allowing space for mourning and hope in the face of tragedy.
We see Your sheltering Presence and Your holy tears
in the receding waters of the Tsunami
and in the rescue work being carried out
by so many for the sake of a fragile world.
May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors,
to send healing to the injured and comfort to those in mourning.
May You be with those who are engaged in the sacred work of rescue.
Be with us as we bring shelter, food, and water to those in need.
May we merit to save many lives.
May those affected by this disaster know Your comfort.
May we act when we learn how we can help.
May our world be blessed by peace. Amen.
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