Shalom,my dear friends;
The disaster in Japan is extraordinary! The loss of life and the enormity of destruction boggle the mind. Pictures rivet our attention and yet they are insufficient to convey the depth of loss and the intensity of privation. All of Japan and, indeed, the Pacific basin will be reeling from the massive devastation which we are seeing. No doubt, all of us will be reaching for our checkbooks and our credit cards to offer some relief from the devastation. Already Israel has offered aid. One hour after the tsunami hit Japan the Israeli government had offered assistance! (Our tiny homeland is doing its part to help others).
WE MUST PRAY
Avinu Shebashamayim-Our Father you who are in Heaven and you who extend beyond the heavens:
Look to your children who are suffering greatly! See your own children who are lost, who are dying, who are missing, who are searching for their loved ones, who cry out to you in a myriad of voices and languages.
Hear the weeping of your own creations, your daughters and sons, your family torn, drowned, separated, weeping, terrified… numb!
Listen to the tumult which rises to your heavenly throne; a rolling wave of agony-a storm of pain- a song of anguish.
Arise from your place in the clouds and come down to Earth-where your fragile broken children wail in misery.
Give your ears to us and hear all of us as we cry. Accept our voices, whispered, silent and shouted, and understand our prayers.
Remind us that each of us is created in your own Divine image to be like you. To you we turn wondering how to be Godly and how to live holiness every day.
Our first step is to care for each other, for people around the world and down the street: to love others who are like us and not like us and then we remember that you have taught us that all people are like us and we are like all people.
Give us strength to care and to pray for others; to act and to support, to donate and to weep both in silence and in our Minyan.
Amen
May we all appreciate the treasure of life this Erev Shabbat and every day.-With love and hope –Rabbi Steve Silberman March 11, 2011 Mobile AL
