Vigil Recording and Prayer for the News by Rabbi Irwin Keller
04/02/2025 10:06:41 PM
Light One Candle: Our Online Vigil for Peace and Healing, Feb. 25, 2025
Led by Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan and Cantor Abbe Lyons, with Violist Alicia Mickenberg.
Several people have requested these beautiful prayers for before and after reading the news, written by my colleague Rabbi Irwin Keller and shared with his permission:
A prayer Before Reading the News
Elohai neshamah shenatata bi tehorah hi.
My God, the soul you have placed in me is pure and vulnerable. I am afraid that looking at today’s news will be painful. Encircle me in a robe of light so that I can witness the wounds of the world without being wounded myself. Let me learn what I need to know in order to be of my greatest use, without being overwhelmed by despair. I feel your protective light now as I open myself to the world’s suffering and the world’s joys.
A Prayer after reading the news
Ribbono shel Olam, I am Yours, and all that is in this world is Yours. Today I have read stories and seen images, but my knowledge is incomplete. I don’t know how it all connects. But I know I am connected to everyone; I take joy in their joy; I suffer with their suffering. If there is no role for me to play today then let my learning leave me wiser and better prepared. If there is a role for me to play, let clarity rise up in me to see it, even if that role is a humble one. Uma’aseh yadeynu konenehu. Lift up the work of my hands, in anything they might do for peace, for justice, for the wholeness of our planet, or for the betterment of my community. Just as you turned the curse of Balaam into a blessing, so may all my actions accrue to the good.
[Add here a prayer for the healing of a specific suffering you read about.]
Barukh atah Adonai, shomea tefilah. Blessed are You who receives my prayer.
Closing Action
The words above may be followed by a simple act: putting money in a tzedakah box, posting words of encouragement to peacemakers online, sitting with breath, walking, moving, cooking, journaling, collaging. This doesn’t need to be a major project, but a clearly defined moment of integration.
