After Huwara: A lament

Oh my people,
What have you become,
To hurl fire and terror,
Rocks and revenge,
Against a village,
To rampage with violence,
To run wild
Under a cloak of self-righteousness.

Oh my people,
Can it be true,
That hatred burns among us,
So that we become
The perpetrators of pogrom
And the silent accomplices to rage,
Executing collective punishment
Under a cloak of justice.

Let our hearts break,
Again and again,
For the murdered among us,
Our friends and families
Cut down by the hand of terror.
In this grief, let us not become the hand of hatred,
Spilling blood for blood,
Cutting down our neighbors with vengeance.
Let our hearts break,
Again and again,
For those we have killed
With our own lawlessness.

Oh my people,
Busy your hands with acts of kindness,
And your hearts with a vision of peace.
Let us stand firm against violence,
Under the rule of law,
Neither accepting terror aimed at us,
Nor becoming a source of terror
Aimed at others.

Amen

About the Author

Alden Solovy is the Liturgist-in-Residence at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. A liturgist, poet, and educator, his teaching spans from Jerusalem to the UK to synagogues throughout North America. He's the author of five books of modern t'fillot, having written hundreds of pieces of new liturgy. His latest book, "This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer," is the final installment in his 'Grateful, Joyous, Precious' trilogy. His work is anthologized in more than 20 volumes of prayers and meditations. Alden made aliyah in 2012. He is the founder of ManKind Project Israel. Read his work at www.ToBendLight.com.