Rabbi Ackerman's Blog
Rabbi David Ackerman
01/23/2010 - Shavua Tov - A Prayer for Haiti
I shared this prayer as part of the Torah service this morning and I am pleased to share it with you here. I feel that it beautifully captures our emotions and spirit at this time of great tragedy in Haiti. Please feel free to use and share it widely.A Prayer for the People of Haiti by Rabbi Naomi Levy
We pray for Haiti.
Our hearts are breaking, God.
The human mind cannot grasp the enormity of the loss.
The cries echo through the universe.
Innocent blood is calling us
To rise up from our heartbreak and act.
We pray for Haiti.
Help us, God,
To understand that destruction can come in a moment
But healing may take a lifetime.
Teach us perseverance, teach us dedication.
We pray for Haiti.
God of the weak, God of the broken-hearted,
God of the living, God of the dead,
Send healing to Haiti.
Send hope to the children who are lost and alone,
Send strength and resilience to the wounded,
And comfort to the grieving.
Fill the leaders of Haiti with the wisdom to raise their country up.
Fill relief workers with resolve.
Bless the doctors and nurses with the power
And the skill to save as many lives as possible.
Open their eyes, steady their hands.
We pray for Haiti.
Bless us, God,
Work through us.
Remind us that every one of us is filled with the power to heal.
Do not let the passage of time lead us to indifference.
Open our hearts, open our hands.
We pray for Haiti.
Let all nations unite as one in a time of reconstruction and repair.
Raise up the people of Haiti, God, out of helplessness and despair.
Teach them to believe
That cities shall be rebuilt on their ruins
That the cries of the children will soon return to laughter.
Be with them, God, watch over them.
And gather the souls of the dead
Whose homes and schools became their graves
Into Your eternal shelter,
Let them find peace in Your presence, God.
We pray for Haiti.
Amen.
On 01/24/2010 Gary Green said...
I am a member (albeit one that has been relatively inactive) and with respect, and without meaning to be insulting, I find this prayer to be a reason to continue my inactivity. Moses Maimonides wrote in Guide of the Perplexed that God is not involved in protecting individuals, and "With regard to this world, which has a wondrously ordered structure, and which is very good, as the wisdom of the Creator has determined, we must assume that everything that is created in it is for the good, even death."
I doubt if many would disagree that God created the earthquake. It is presumptuous for a faith that holds we are unequipped to know enough about God to make any judgment, yet to nonetheless assume from our ignorance that he needs instructions, or hints about helping the very people God decided to cause such incredible, undeserved punishments and suffering.
We cannot intelligently posit the kind of deity the prayer asks to "Be with them, God, watch over them," and posit as well that it was the same God that caused the hurt in the first place-unless you are prepared to say that God is a tyrant, after hurting people for reasons we cannot fathom, but the prayer takes the position God is not smart enough to know that He should "be with them" (assuming that would help them),and therefore we will give him the hint in this prayer.
Similarly, the implication of the poem is the missing verse,
"Strike down the people of Haiti, God, taking advantage of their helplessness and cause them despair."
Which then invokes the actual verse in the prayer,
"Raise up the people of Haiti, God, out of helplessness and despair.
This implies that we are praying to a deity that is either schizophrenic, or is so insecure the earthquake was just some muscle flexing to keep us in line.
Finally, it is an amazing thought that we are praying for souls to "find peace in Your presence" Does that mean that after doing the damage of this earthquake, the writer has doubt that the God he worships needs encouragement to even grant peace to God's victims, and thinks he has to actually ask for this in a prayer?
I believe in God, but my view is more akin to Maimonides. I believe an earthquake is indifferent to people, and in fact God is indifferent to people. Rather the story of the world is all that matters, and our involvement with God ended after we were lucky enough to have been born. I am willing to join those who attribute all wisdom and power to God, but that acceptance disqualifies me from even suggesting in a prayer what God should do since it is such a childish notion that we the characters in the Book of Life can tell the Author what He should write. Those who applaud every act of God as His divine will- thus making the earthquake holy, if they also believe God is listening to them for advice should demand accountability instead of offering a feel-good homage in the form of the posted prayer.
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