Dear Friends,
I want to start off with a prayer for the safety of human life.
May all of our dear ones in Israel feel our love.
May every individual in Israel, Iran, and across the region who are not in control of the bombs, the threats, and the violence find safety, resilience, and protection.
May all who promote violence, threats, escalation, Holocaust denial and other forms of hatred, and sheer recklessness find teshuvah, a total turn-around, before it’s too late.
May every human being who was once a small child, or still is one, know comfort, connection, and peace.
May those of us in DC this weekend, as tanks roll and banners wave, remember the words of the prophet Zechariah – that our building and rebuilding comes “not by might, and not by power, but by the spirit of Adonai.”
May we be strengthened by our divine interconnection.
This past Sunday morning, I was invited to give the opening blessing for the World Pride Rally at the Lincoln Memorial. I want to share it with you here, in hopes that it helps to ground each one of us as we move into Shabbat.
It is an unbelievable honor to be here today with you, my queer siblings, to remind us of the blessings that we bring and share with one another today.
From our queer ancestors – we are blessed by a resilient, brilliant history. We are blessed with the courage to pursue joy and solidarity amidst fear and persecution.
From our diversity – we are blessed with a community that spans continents and
generations, hopes, and dreams. We are blessed to be united in mutual friendship, care, and nurture.
From our messiness – we are blessed with the ways in which deep uncertainty, wandering, and wondering are deeply holy. We are blessed with the ability to withstand – and grow through – constructive chaos.
From our strength – we are blessed with a refusal to give up or to quiet down until everyone of us – across gender, sexuality, race, ability, and all spectrums of queerness – each and every one of us is safe and free.
Our grief is sacred. Our fight is sacred. Our love is sacred. Our beauty is sacred. Our
community is sacred. We remind one another of that holiness in the moments when it’s too hard to hold, and we take turns being that energy and that perspective.
As we cry out – in rage and in ecstasy, and back to rage, and back to ecstasy again – may we hear the Divine in one another’s voices. May we love ourselves. May we love one another.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Hannah
