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Alden Solovy
Blessings Abound

Aux Juifs de France

This is a prayer for the Jews of France after the terror attack on a kosher market in Paris. The prayer appears first in French followed by English. It’s an adaption of “For the Jews of France,” which I wrote in March, 2012, after the deadly anti-semitic attack in Toulouse. If someone would like to translate this into Hebrew, I’d be happy to add the translation to this post and to my website. The French translation is by Genevieve Begue.

Aux Juifs de France, Modifié
Auteur de la vie,
L’homme est devenu violent,
Anéantissant des vies,
Bouleversant des rêves,
Attaquant l’espoir avec la haine.

Source et Créateur,
Accorde un repos parfait sous ton tabernacle de paix
Aux victimes de Paris
Dont les vies furent interrompues par la violence,
Un acte d’aggression stupide
Et d’anti-Sémitisme calculé.
Rappelle-toi les survivants de cette atrocité,
Et les victimes de toute violence, souffrance ou désespoir.
Accorde-leur refuge et secours,
Confort et consolation,
Grâce et renouveau.
Accorde-leur l’endurance afin qu’ils survivent,
La force de reconstruire,
La foi dans le deuil,
Le courage de guérir,
Et la dévotion l’un à l’autre.

Guide divin,
Main d’amour et refuge,
Met fin à la haine et la colère,
A la peur et la bigoterie,
Et conduit-nous à ce temps,
Quand plus un ne souffre à la merci d’un autre.

Pour le bien de notre peuple,
Et pour celui de Ton Saint Nom,
Accorde aux Juifs de France Ta protection,
Ta guérison et ton intégrité,
Et accorde-leur Ta paix.

For the Jews of France, Revised
Author of life,
Man has turned violent,
Crushing lives,
Upending dreams,
Attacking hope with hatred.

Source and Creator,
Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace
To the victims of murder in Paris
Whose lives were cut off by violence,
An act of witless aggression
And calculated anti-Semitism.
Remember the survivors of this horror,
And the victims of any violence, suffering or despair.
Grant them shelter and solace,
Comfort and consolation,
Blessing and renewal.
Grant them endurance to survive,
Strength to rebuild,
Faith to mourn,
Courage to heal,
And devotion to each other.

Heavenly Guide,
Hand of love and shelter,
Put an end to anger and hatred,
Bigotry and fear,
And lead us to a time when no one
Suffers at the hand of another.

For the sake of our people,
And for the sake of Your Holy Name,
Grant the Jews of France Your protection,
Your wholeness and healing,
And Your peace.

Aux Juifs de France, Modifié”  and “For the Jews of France, Revised” are © 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Alden Solovy is traveling teacher, preacher, poet in the tradition of the piytan. The Liturgist-in-Residence at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, his teaching spans from Jerusalem to the UK to synagogues throughout North America. He's the author of six volumes of modern tefillot and midrash. His latest, "These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah," is a Silver Medalist in the 2023 Independent Book Publishers Awards. 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.
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