Turn us unto You, Adonai, that we may be turned. Renew our days as of old.

-Lamentations 5:21

A Reading by Alan Paton

(Adapted by Rabbi Lindsey bat Joseph)

Nine Eleven, Prayer 2
On Parashat Nitzavim

We are standing today
All of us
The big shots
The chum
The children
Wives and sweethearts
And the stranger
That is within
All of us
Before Hashem The Name
Our God
From the hewers of wood
To the carriers of water
All of us
Every lousy one of us
Today.
To cut a deal
With You
So that You will
Remember the deal
You cut with our ancestors,
Good people
Eager
covenant cutters.
But not for us alone
Do You keep this agreement
Naw
Not for us who are here
Today
But for those of us
Who are not here
Today.
I am praying for everybody.

For this deal that I set before you this day
You know which one I mean
It is not too far from you
That you should say
Who shall go for us.
Nor is it too hard for you
That you should say
Who will do this for us.
It is not in heaven
And it is not hidden
And it is not distant
But right here
Under your schnozzola
It is in your mouth
And in your heart
It is sitting next to you on the bench
Waiting with you for the bus
It is standing on the corner
In front of Starbuck's
Waiting for the light to change.
Close
That you should do it.
Look,
No See,
Look See

I have placed before you
The life and the good
And the death and the evil.
So love Hashem
God
Walk like God
Do the right things
The simple things and the complex things
Figure out what you can for yourself
And be wise together
Then you will multiply
And God will grow you
And bless you.
But if you don't listen
And fly away,
I tell you
I surely tell you
I know that you will be lost
And your days will not be lengthened
On the land.
So I call heaven and earth together
To witness for you and against you
I have placed life and death before you
Blessing and curse.
Choose life
Choose blessing
Love God
Listen
Glue yourself to God
For God is your life
And the length of your days.
God promised your ancestors.
God promised them.

(Rabbi James Stone Goodman)

Forty-Two
Steadiness

Balance our days, Beloved Friend,
When we careen without plan
From task to task, from thought to thought,
Seeking right paths.

So many days, we do not pause.
Rushing on, we lose our focus
Forgetting the center of our being
Is contained within Your hand.

Like erratic winds, we swirl about,
Rustling all directions, turning dust to wraiths
Across this dry plain of responsibilities.

Running faster, calm evades us,
And the shattered fragments scatter,
Lost and tumbling along parched ground.

Pull around us, then, Your strong arm.
Halt our frantic motion.
Water this arid ground with living water;
Irrigate our thirsty souls.

Place our actions before us,
A rediscovered path to You;
Balance our days with Your regard,
Fill our tasks with holiness.

(From Debbie Perlman's "Flames to Heaven: New Psalms for Healing & Praise", Rad Publishers )

Forty-Three
A Song for Courage

Reach down for me, O Eternal,
To draw me up besides You;
Coax me away from anger and fear,
Beckoning forward, climbing higher.

Grasp tightly as I grope above,
Bind my heart to You.
Place my hand upon the sturdy branch
That eases to climb to You.

For You are the sure Hand
Beneath my elbow,
Guiding my steps as the
Blind are guided.

You are the Light
Shining through dark branches,
Illuminating the ascent
Through strangling vines.

You are the steady Voice
That recalls me from my confusion,
And bids me order my days,
That I might turn to You in wonder.

Recall me, recall me, sing my name.
That I might hear Your welcome;
Lift me, turn me, to breathe fresh air
Above the forest canopy.

(From Debbie Perlman's "Flames to Heaven: New Psalms for Healing & Praise", Rad Publishers)

There is a Grace that Every Dawn Renews

There is a grace that every dawn renews,
A loveliness making every morning fresh.
We will endure, we will prevail -
We, the children of Hope,
Children of the One
Who crowds the heavens with stars,
Endows the earth with glory,
And fills the mind with wonder!

(Rabbi Chaim Stern)

We Give Thanks, Grant us Courage, Bless us With Your Peace

(Rabbi Matt Friedman)

Prayer Number One

Nine Eleven

Never was there a time

Never was there a time

Never was there a time

Help us.

Never was there a time

Never was there a time

Never was there a time

Help us.

O God,

Protect us,
Never was there a time,

Restore us,

O God,

Never was there a time
Never was there a time

Protect us.

Our Children

O God,

Our Children

Our Children,

Keep them safe.

And Restore to them

Restore to them

O God

Restore to them

A sense of life's goodness.

Do it for your own sake

For your sake

For your sake

For your sake, O God,

Do it.

(Rabbi James Stone Goodman)

Repairing the Fabric

One of the traditional Jewish acts of mourning is the tearing of our clothes -- the performance of what is called kri'a -- literally tear in Hebrew. By ripping the fabric of a lapel, a pocket, a sleeve, or a black ribbon opposite our hearts, we acknowledge through a physical act of tearing, the emotional and psychic sundering death brings.

In response to the loss, fury and sorrow we experience as we process grief -- in response to what our President has called our "quiet, unyielding anger" at the upending of our world, Jewish Tradition decrees we rend the fabric of our garments, that we might thereby be returned in some small measure to wholeness.

But what shall we do when it is the fabric of our society and world that is rent? What shall we do when it is the rending that is the cause of and not the response to our grief? What shall we do then? How shall we react when the way we understood the world and our place within it is today rendered unrecognizable and we cannot go back to the way it ever was? What do we tear then? And how do we begin to make our world whole again?

Perhaps an answer can be found in the story of the young student who found a large map of the world in the newspaper. Curious, the student took the map to his teacher. Seeing an opportunity to challenge the student, the teacher took the map of the globe and tore it into many, many pieces. Fragments of paper fell to the floor at the student's feet. And then handing over a roll of tape, the teacher challenged the student to reassemble the map of the world, and then the teacher returned to work.

The student dropped to the floor and, in short order, completed the assignment by correctly taping together each of the pieces of the whole of the world. Where only minutes before the image of the world we believed we had known so well was torn asunder, and strewn across the floor, now it was being offered up as an intact whole.

When the teacher asked the student how it had been possible to reassemble the fragmented world so quickly, the response was short and to the point: "There was a picture of a person on the back side. I repaired that one person and the whole world got fixed too."

(Rabbi Aaron Benjamin Bisno)

Before Kaddish

(Adapted from Rabbi Zoe Klein)

A Kaddish for September 11th

(Rabbi Kenneth Milhander, Temple Beth Tikvah/Adat Ari, Fullerton, California)

There are Stars

There are stars whose light reaches the earth only after they themselves have disintegrated. And there are individuals whose memory lights the world after they have passed from it. These lights shine in the darkest night and illumine for us the path...

(Hannah Senesh)

Two Hundred Thirty
Aftermath, A Prayer for Recovery

Help us to preserve the memory of the fallen,
Taken not in battle, but in innocence;
Comfort us, Holy One, as the images sear,
As we try to comprehend the unfathomable,

We have become rescuers sifting the rubble,
We are searching for meaning in the whirlwind;
No preparation can be made for this disaster,
We push aside debris, looking for answers.

Show us Your face in compassion,
You are our Beacon of consolation;
Focus Your healing light through acrid smoke,
Clearing a path through our tears.

Begin with us the task of recovery,
Renew our resolve to pursue righteousness;
Secure us again in safety and peace,
Our nation's soul forever changed.

(Debbie Perlman)