Holidays From October 7 to Simchat Torah 5785

Today we share the first in a series of reflections. This passage is called Signs of Life, and was written by Israeli author, Etgar Keret for a young girl whose father had been killed on October 7.

“Now close your eyes and try to stop being angry. Try to stop raging at all those who deserve your righteous fury. Close your eyes, and allow yourself, just for a moment, to simply feel the pain, to hesitate, to be confused, to feel sorrow, remorse. You still have your whole life to spend persecuting, avenging, reckoning. But for now, just close your eyes and look inward like a satellite hovering over a disaster zone searching for signs of life. A lot has been taken away from you, but you’re still a human being. Wounded, bloodied, angry, hurting, frightened, drowning in sorrow, but still: human. Take a deep breath, and try to remember the feeling because you know that a minute from now, when you open your eyes again, it will be gone.”

Today we share the second in a series of reflections for the days between October 7 and Simchat Torah.

After the Hamas massacres in Southern Israel, tens of thousands of survivors were evacuated to hotels in other parts of the country. Israeli kindergarten teacher, Avital Liman, went to the Dead Sea to volunteer with evacuated children. She wrote this poem about a conversation with a child there. [Translation by Michael Bohnen, Heather Silverman, Rachel Korazim.]

We share it with hearts breaking for all the children whose lives have been lost or forever altered since the attacks of October 7, 2023.

“Nowadays One Has to Check”
By Avital Liman

In the evacuees’ hotel
By the Dead Sea
She carefully gathers
The doll’s hair with a ribbon
She attaches a sparkling pipe cleaner
To the ribbon.
And then she asks: “Tell me, am I alive?
And how would they know if I were dead?” What would you say
to a four-year old girl?
“Only the living can hug.
Come, let’s hug and see if
We’re alive.”
Later she says:
“Tomorrow morning let’s check again.”

עכשיו צריך לבדוק
אביטל לימן

 בִּמְלוֹן הַמְּפֻנִּים
בְּיַם הַמֶּלַח
הִיא אוֹסֶפֶת יָפֶה יָפֶה
,אֶת שְׂעַר הַבֻּבָּה בַּסֶּרֶט
קוֹשֶׁרֶת מִמְּנַקֵּה מִקְטָרוֹת מְנַצְנֵץ
,עַל הַסֶּרֶט
?וְאָז שׁוֹאֶלֶת: “תַּגִּידִי, אֲנִי חַיָּה
“?וְאֵיךְ יוֹדְעִים שֶׁאֲנִי מֵתָה
מָה הֲיִיתֶם עוֹנִים
?לַיַּלְדָּה בַּת אַרְבַּע
.רַק מִי שֶׁחַי יָכֹל לְהִתְחַבֵּק”
בּוֹאִי נִתְחַבֵּק וְנִרְאֶה אִם
.”אֲנַחְנוּ בַּחַיִּים
:אַחַר כָּךְ הִיא אוֹמֶרֶת
“גַּם מָחָר בַּבֹּקֶר נִבְדֹּק”

Today we share the third in a series of reflections for the days between October 7 and Simchat Torah.

We share this prayer on behalf of the hostages still being held captive since the attacks of October 7, 2023. We will not forget them, and we will not let the world forget them, as we continue to pray for their swift and safe return home.

Prayer for Those Being Held in Captivity

May the Holy One who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah; bless, protect and guard our missing brothers and sisters who are in distress and captivity. May the Holy Compassionate One, bring them out of darkness and the shadow of death; may God break their bonds, deliver them from their distress, and bring them swiftly back to their families’ embrace. May there be fulfilled in them the verse: “Those redeemed by God will return; they will enter Zion with singing, and everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

And let us say: Amen.

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה, הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וְיִשְׁמֹר וְיִנְצֹר אֶת כָּל אַחֵינוּ וְאֲחְיוֹתֵינוּ הַנֶעְדָרִים הַנְּתוּנִים בְּצָרָה וּבְשִׁבְיָה. הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִמָּלֵא רַחֲמִים עֲלֵיהֶם, וְיוֹצִיאֵם מֵחֹשֶׁךְ וְצַלְמָוֶת, וּמוֹסְרוֹתֵיהֶם יְנַתֵּק, וּמִמְּצוּקוֹתֵיהֶם יוֹשִׁיעֵם, וִישִׁיבֵם מְהֵרָה לְחֵיק מִשְׁפְּחוֹתֵיהֶם. וִיקֻיַּם
,בָּהֶם מִקְרָא שֶׁכָּתוּב: וּפְדוּיֵי ה׳ יְשֻׁבוּן, וּבָאוּ צִיּוֹן בְּרִנָּה, וְשִׂמְחַת עוֹלָם עַל־רֹאשָׁם, שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה יַשִׂיגוּ

וְנָסוּ יָגוֹן וַאֲנָחָה: וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן

Today we share the fourth in our series of reflections for these days between October 7 and Simchat Torah.

As we gather in prayer during these Days of Awe, many of us in the global Jewish community are searching for language to speak to the sense of loss, hopelessness, and heartbreak that we have felt over the past year. This interpretive version of El Malei Rachamim, written by Hebrew College president, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, is a prayer for all the innocents who have lost their lives in the devastating violence of the past year. In the words of the High Holiday piyyut, “May the past year and its curses come to an end, may the new year and its blessings begin.”

El Maleh Rachamim
By Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld

אל מלא רחמים
God full of mercy,
Womb of the world,
In whom there is room enough
for all life to flourish
From whom there is blessing enough
For all life to be nourished –

We call out to You,
broken-hearted.

שוכן במרומים
You who dwell on High
Beyond the borders of loyalty and love
that make us human —
Hearing what we cannot
Holding what we cannot
Healing what we cannot —
Help us.

המצא מנוחה נכונה
תחת כנפי השכינה
Grant perfect rest
Beneath the wings of Your Presence
To the precious innocent souls —
Israeli and Palestinian,
Jewish and Muslim,
Christian, Bedouin, and Druze,
migrant workers from around the world —
Who have lost their lives
to the ravages of war
during this past year

Shelter those who witnessed
unspeakable brutality
And whose walls could not protect them.
Carry those who were caught or cornered,
unable to escape
destruction, degradation, despair.
Lift up those who searched
for sustenance or safety,
longing for the embrace of home.

במעלות קדושים וטהורים
כזוהר הרקיע מזהירים
May those souls
who are with you now
be granted a glimpse of the world
as You see it —
shimmering everywhere
with the light of Your presence.

בגן עדן תהא מנוחתם
May they find rest and comfort
In Your holy Garden.

אנא בעל הרחמים
Please, O Master of Mercy

הסתיריהם בסתר כנפיך לעולמים
וצרור בצרור החיים את נשמותיהם
Hide them
beneath the cover of Your wings, forever,
And let their souls be bound up with ours,
Summoning us all to righteousness
And hope renewed.

יי הוא נחלתם
וינוחו בשלום על משכבם
May Your unending love be their inheritance.
May their eternal resting place be Your peace.
And let us say: Amen.

Today we share the fifth in a series of reflections for the days between October 7 and Simchat Torah.

We share this the prayer, “Let Us Light Candles for Peace” written by two brave mothers, Sheikha Ibtisam Maḥameed & Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum. R. Tamar Elad-Appelbaum is the founder and spiritual leader of Kehilat Zion in Jerusalem, and the Director of the Rabbanut Yisraelit Network and Co-Director of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Center for Ritual. Sheikha Ibtisam Maḥameed is a Palestinian, living in northern Israel, whose primary focus is on improving relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel and working to improve the status of women in both Arab and Jewish society.

Their cry for peace and light in this time of darkness and pain is particularly resonant on this eve of Shabbat and of Yom Kippur, Shabbat Shabbaton, as we yearn for the end of war and division and pray for a better year ahead.

Let Us Light Candles for Peace | تعالوا نضيئ شمعات السلام | בואו נאיר נרות שלום
By S. Ibtisam Mahameed & R. Tamar Elad-Appelbaum
(translation by R. Amichi Lau-Lavie)

Let us light candles for peace.
Two mothers, one plea:
Now, more than ever, during these days of so much crying,
on the day that is sacred to both our religions, Friday, Sabbath Eve
Let us light a candle in every home — for peace:
A candle to illuminate our future, face to face,
A candle across borders, beyond fear.
From our family homes and houses of worship
Let us light each other up,
Let these candles be a lighthouse to our spirit
Until we all arrive at the sanctuary of peace.

Today we share the sixth in a series of reflections for the days between October 7 and Simchat Torah.

We share a musical version of Psalm 23 sung by Hebrew College ordination students, Aviva and Julia, who are in Israel for their year of study. Psalm 23 invites us to think about the peaks and valleys of life as components of one, ultimately redemptive, journey. At this time when our hearts are raw reflecting on the October 7 attacks, we hope the text and melody resonate deeply for you and offer comfort.

Psalm 23:4

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me.
גַּם כִּי-אֵלֵךְ
בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת
לֹא-אִירָא רָע
כִּי-אַתָּה עִמָּדִי

Visit Hebrew College’s interreligious psalms site, The Book of Psalms: Calling Out from the Depths, to explore psalm 23.