WE PRAY FOR ISRAEL
We pray for Israel,
Both the mystic ideal of our ancestors' dreams, And the living miracle, here and now,
Built of heart, muscle, and steel.
May she endure and guard her soul, Surviving the relentless, age-old hatreds,
The cynical concealment of diplomatic deceit, And the rumblings that warn of war,
May Israel continue to be the temple that
magnetizes the loving eyes of Jews in all corners of the world:
The Jew in a land of affluence and relative peace
Who forgets the glory and pain of his being,
And the Jew in a land of oppression whose bloodied fist Beats in anguish and pride
Against the cage of his enslavement.
May Israel yet embrace her homeless, her own.
And bind the ingathered into one people.
May those who yearn for a society built on human concern Find the vision of the prophets realized in her.
May the readiness to defend
Never diminish her search for peace.
May we always dare to hope
That in our day the antagonisms will end,
that all the displaced, Arab and Jew, will be rooted again, That within Israel and across her borders
All God's children will touch hands in peace.
A SIMPLE PRAYER
What shall I ask You for, God? I have everything
There's nothing I lack.
I ask only for one thing
And not for myself alone;
It's for many mothers, and children, and fathers
Not just in this land, but in many lands hostile to each other. I'd like to ask for Peace.
Yes, it's Peace I want,
And You, You won't deny the single wish of a child.
You created the Land of Peace,
Where stands the City of Peace,
Where stood the Temple of Peace,
But where still there is no Peace...
What shall I ask you for God? I have everything.
Peace is what I ask for,
Only Peace.
- Shlomit Grossberg, age 13 Jerusalem
FIGHTING OVER ISRAEL AT THE SEDER: A GUIDE!
URJ Past President Eric Yoffie's write's thoughts on how to discuss Israel at the Seder table. You can find them on his website.