Be our companion as we champion freedom - Daily Minyan - March 27, 2025

Facebook Live Daily Minyan 

The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

Original reading

March 27, 2025

Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, 

Guardian of our very lives, 

You have given us the ability 

To expand our minds,

To add to our knowledge,

And to deepen our skills 

As we explore new avenues 

for expressing ourselves

And helping each other. 

Be our companion 

as we champion freedom,

As we seek to preserve this wondrous world,

And as we work to improve pathways to healing.

Lead us to approach all people

With empathy and compassion 

With generosity and respect

So that we will share in our pride

Not only for the miracle of our achievements

But for the hope that we will continue to thrive

As neighbors and friends

As we bask in the joy of Your Oneness 

And as we shine within the light 

of Your enduring presence. 

For the persistence of words - March 22, 2025

For the persistence of words

I still hope for a world

Without injustice, 

With decency and fairness. 

What could be wrong 

If we still recognized 

The strength in our diversity, 

The need for equality?

Banning inclusion, 

Overlooking oppression 

Will not conceal 

Unavoidable truths past and present. 

Some words may be silenced.

Some work may be devalued. 

Some place before their eyes

A narrow, clouded lens 

through which to see

Identity and history. 

Praising exclusion,

Rejecting pluralism, 

Promoting salvation of only a chosen few

Will not engender respect

Or cause peace to descend upon us.  

There are perspectives 

That have risen to the surface,

Undermining understanding,

Diminishing decency, 

Reducing respect, 

that have undone 

Past achievements,  

Now-fleeting accomplishments. 

Nevertheless….

I won’t let go 

of love that I believe in. 

I won’t stop 

building the world 

I want to live in. 

I won’t lose hope 

to feel that I belong

And that unity remains

Within our reach.

The embodiment of the Divine - Daily Minyan Reading - March 18, 2025

Facebook Live Daily Minyan 

The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah

Original reading

March 18, 2025

Eternal One,
Creator and Sustainer of us all, 

May Your all-encompassing Presence

Teach every person 

To speak and act 

As if the individuals in front of him or her

Are the embodiment of the Divine. 

Open our minds to recognize You

In the eyes of others 

In the world around us

So that, in our disagreements,

In the midst of conflict, 

We will remember that our supposed foes

Have a sacred touch of You in them 

And may our seemingly sworn enemies

Be overcome with a revelation 

That we are also graced with being a holy aspect

Of Your eternal existence.

Would it happen that peace would descend

If all people acknowledged their place within
Your everlasting Oneness? 

Perhaps. 

Until then, we pray to You, 

Who has fashioned us within a unity

That spans time and space. 

My home left me - March 7, 2025

I didn’t leave my home.

My home left me. 

It was once a place of warmth and connection.

Now it presents, at best, a cool reception

It used to care about welcoming strangers.

Now, it has closed its doors to anyone seeking refuge. 

It used to be a place where neighbors knew more than each other’s names. 

Now, it is barely possible to see faces of others as they rush through their lives, eyes trained on handheld devices, focusing on their next stop in their intricately-planned daily schedule. 

It used to be a place where people talked to and with each other, even about issues that mattered. 

Now, discussions steer away from most topics, as the pendulum of communal speech, which sometimes seeks the extremes, and not the middle, prohibits engaging in productive and meaningful conversation. 

It used to be a place where, to some extent, it was possible to share feelings, even self-doubt. 

Now, we hear that only certain people are always right, and others are always wrong, where ‘rightness” may not even be based on established facts, where doubt is forbidden, and where feelings are a sign of weakness. 

It used to be a place where people could choose a path for their vocation and find an appropriate position that brought them challenge and fulfillment. 

Now, there are leaders ready to take away those positions as they misunderstand or denigrate their value for our knowledge, our health, and for the safety of food and other  products that we use every day. 

It used to be a place where freedom meant that we could pursue relationships and interests inside and outside our occupations that offer a sense of contentment, acceptance, and joy. 

Now, it is a place where bullying and ridicule set the parameters for what is appropriate behavior and who can be seen as having a role in society. 

It used to be a place where allies in distant places participated in a mutual sharing of wisdom and culture that enriched all people. 

Now, walls are being raised to prevent new ideas from “contaminating” a perceived greatness that defines cultural value in narrow terms. 

I didn’t leave my home. 

My home left me.   

And I won’t give up until I find a peaceful, yet forthright, way get it back.