Ribbono Shel Olam, Master of the Universe —
Shekhinah, Whose wings shelter creation —
Once our people wandered the desert sands.
Now we merely vacation in rootlessness
While our Bedouin neighbors perch
Without permission, their goats forbidden to graze.
Time after time the bulldozers tear down homes
And playgrounds, uprooting spindly olive trees
To make room for someone else’s future forest,
As though saplings mattered more than children.
As we sit beneath palm fronds, corn stalks, pine boughs
Decked with gourds and strings of lights, as we
Invite our nomadic ancestors to join us
For tea and conversation, help us, God
To feel the suffering of every Bedouin parent
Whose children wake from demolition nightmares;
To recognize the merit in their love
Of living lightly on the land.
Once, our Temple — God’s sukkah, a house
Of prayer for all peoples — was razed by hate.
Holy One of Blessing, move us now to protect
Those who live in temporary circumstance
Which is all of us who dwell on earth.
Help our hands and hearts to bring repair.
