(photo: Margaret Bourke-White)
Oh, Spirit of mercy,
whose presence dwells
in the highest heights
and the darkest depths:
Shelter the souls
of all who were oppressed and murdered
during the years of the Shoah.
May the memory of those who were
singled out, persecuted and destroyed
be sanctified for goodness
and for peace:
Jews, gays, lesbians
and political dissidents;
communists, socialists,
labor leaders and Soviet prisoners of war;
resistance fighters, Roma,
Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses;
the disabled of mind and body;
the homeless, the unemployed
and the unwanted…
May all who were once left vulnerable
remain protected beneath the soft wings of your presence
that they may rest in peace.
Spirit of Compassion,
help us to mourn their loss in such a way
that our fears and our hopes will become indistinguishable
from the fears and the hopes of all who are oppressed.
Help us turn isolation into wholeness,
division into fellowship
and bitterness into healing waters of liberation
for all humanity.
Amen.
Yedid Nefesh 
This is really lovely. I will print this for my own prayer book. Thank you, Brant.
Tears in my eyes. Yes, we stand with all people who are condemned because they are different and feared. I am Catholic, and believe that Jesus died to show that scapegoating is the ultimate evil. We must relearn this in every generation after every new genocide. May God forgive us all, and help us grow beyond the need to blame others for our own wrongs.
L’ha ribloggato su Ebraismo Riformistae ha commentato:
wonderful prayer
Thank you for creating this. We need more prayers like this to guide our thoughts on this day of remembrance.
Amen
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Beautiful Rabbi Brant! And LOVE the picture!
Beautiful. Thanks, Brant.
Just beautiful.
I will use this prayer at the morning office at St. George’s Anglican Church in Halifax. Thank you.