Ritualwell

We’re about halfway through the three weeks of mourning leading to the ninth of Av, which falls on Aug. 2. This poem by Shalen Lowell could be about the Jewish people’s collective trauma but could also be read as addressing personal, private grief. 

This is a prayer many of us can relate to. The liturgist asks for help remembering that “there is a world outside the computer.” The words also mark the division between the work week and Shabbat’s sacred time.

Devon Spier’s prayer is a valiant attempt to articulate the unfathomable. As we come to grips with the devastating floods and loss of life in central Texas, this prayer answers the universal desire to make sense of the senseless. 

Rabbi Deborah Waxman’s prayer, written in response to a series of terrifying events, asks the “God of capaciousness,” to “give us the expansiveness to hold our dear ones ever closer and to work toward peace and equity on behalf of people we will never meet.” 

Alex Carter’s prayer and poem is a celebration of American diversity. It is also a prayer for a better future; one built upon the values of justice and compassion.