Dear JCOGS family,
As we pass the one-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurgency of the capitol building, an anti-truth riot declaring the U.S. elections fraudulent, I turn to our tradition for a way forward. A way towards democracy, decency, freedom, and truth.
Two weeks ago, when we began to read the book of Exodus in our Torah cycle, I shared a d’var Torah/sermon on the connection between Pharaoh’s propaganda against the Israelites, and the tyranny and anti-truth that is plaguing us today. “We Jews are truth seekers and truth tellers. We know the perils of propaganda. We also know how to stand up to those lies and to speak truth to power.” You can watch or listen to it
here .
Tonight @ 6pm and next Shabbat, we will have a close look at a new prayer book, Siddur Lev Shalem. These services are an invitation to the community to consider whether JCOGS will adopt this siddur. A survey will follow later in January for you to share your experience. A familiar resource, this siddur has the same publisher and format of our beloved High Holy Day prayerbook, Mahzor Lev Shalem.
I turn to Siddur Lev Shalem and its “Prayer for Our Country” for guidance and petition:
“Our God and God of our ancestors, with mercy accept our prayer on behalf of our country and its government. Pour out Your blessing upon this land, upon its inhabitants, upon its leaders, its judges, officers, and officials, who faithfully devote themselves to the needs of the public. Help them understand the rules of justice You have decreed, so that peace and security, happiness and freedom, will never depart from the land… Uproot from our hearts hatred and malice, jealousy and strife. Plant love and compassion, peace and friendship among the many peoples and faiths who dwell in our nation.”
You can explore the rest of this prayer on page 177
here, as well as the commentary and alternative readings this prayer book has to offer.
In this remarkable democracy, as anti-truth increases to the peril of the greater society and to Jews, we need all the truth-seeking prayers we can get.
Tihiyu bri’im, stay safe, be well. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David
