Rest and Comfort: Kabbalat Shabbat

On a crisp Fall day, the sky was blue.

Two airplanes sliced our world in half

And everything changed.

Everything changed and yet,

It feels the same

As now,

You know what I mean?

Frightening

Out of control
And we need to comfort ourselves.

Some find comfort in action, others in quiet contemplation.

Some find comfort in ice cream, others in exercise.
Some find comfort in denial, others in non-stop information.

All these can work for me, but not tonight.

Tonight, i declare

That everything changes.
Tonight I go towards Shabbat.

Tonight,

Instead of violence, I choose peace.

Instead of anger, I choose kindness.

Instead of revenge, I choose justice.

Instead of resentment, I choose empathy.

Instead of work, I choose rest.

Instead of ideology, I choose compromise.

Instead of destruction, I choose community.

Instead of fear, I choose endurance.
Instead of shouting, I choose prayer.

Instead of  hate, I choose Shabbat.

Blessed Yah, God of my ancestors, Inventor of Shabbat, we give thanks for this day of rest and comfort, this day that does not change but that changes everything.

Amen

Go up the Mountain: A Shavuot Kavanah

We gather together

At the edge of the Red Sea

Or in a room at the edge of our seats,

Ready to run

Or ready to study?

Either way it's unknown territory.

We trek through the desert.

And with each step away from home

And the cucumbers of Egypt,

We tremble:

From Revelation

Or Pharoah's chariots?

Either way I hope you brought a flashlight.

So,

With each step

We walk into the past.

History or Myth?

Either way, it's real and it's ours.

Trusting our rabbi or Moshe on the mountain?

Either way we're gonna learn something.

Following our hazzan or the prophetess Miriam?

Either way it sounds good.

Closer and closer to Sinai

To get the Gift of Torah.

The Gift of Obligation and Knowledge,

Or the Gift of Doubt and Guilt,

Either way, God loves giving presents!

Would you have left Egypt?

Would you have crossed the Red Sea?

Would you have walked the desert?

Would you have waited at Sinai?

Or would you have stayed home, cozy and hydrated,

Asking no questions,

Fearing no answers?

Either way, my feet already hurt.

So,

Let us go up the mountain.