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אָשַׁמְנוּ. בָּגַדְנוּ. |
Ashamnu. Bagadnu. We hear shofarim Wailing their judgement In the shadow of our ears O God, what have we done? |
גָּזַלְנוּ. דִבַּרְנוּ דֹפִי. |
Gazalnu. Dibarnu dofi. We can feel the tremble of the Gates A tremor in our soul There is no time O God, what have we done? |
הֶעֱוִינוּ. וְהִרְשַׁעְנוּ. |
He’evinu. V’hirshanu. Rustling of a thousand pages The Book slamming shut Pen down O God, what have we done! |
זַדְנוּ. חָמַסְנוּ. |
Zadnu. Ḥamasnu. This year’s ink was not dry yet Pages stick with blood Our names enmeshed O God, what have we done… |
טָפַלְנוּ שֶקֶר. |
Tafalnu sheḳer. 287 twilights forgone and sealed Nothing aside the twilights we have taken Children’s children, stars in the sky, disappeared O! O God! |
יָעַצְנוּ רַע. כִּזַבְנוּ. |
Ya’atsnu ra. Kizavnu. Salt in the air A sea of bitter tears It will not part for us O God, what have we done? What have we done? |
לַצְנוּ. מָרַדְנוּ. |
Latsnu. Maradnu. Bread turns to ash in our mouths Wine turns to bile Will they ever be sweet again? O God… |
נִאַצְנוּ. סָרַרְנוּ. עָוִינוּ. |
Niatsnu. Sararnu. Avinu. Shall we bind our most beloved for you? What rite could repair such ancient hate? There are not enough eyes on this earth O God, O God! What have we done? |
פָּשַעְנוּ. צָרַרְנוּ. |
Pashanu. Tsararnu. Fistfuls of clove and myrtle bring no relief Air thick with death, no remains Strange birds pick and pull at us O… what have we? God? |
קִשִׁינוּ עֹרֶף. |
Ḳishinu oref. Three voids darken the wilderness We have not remembered, we have not kept Braided and burning, we cannot separate Have we, O God? |
רָשַׁעְנוּ. שִׁחַתְנוּ. |
Rashanu. Shiḥatnu. We crawl up to Your rubble seat Cracked, blackened nails reflect our sin A gunshot away God… |
תִּעַבְנוּ. תָּעִינוּ. תִּעְתָּעְנוּ. |
Ti’avnu. Ta’inu. Titanu. We stand meritless and bare before You We have come to atone, O God We are here God? O God, what have we done. |
“Ashamnu” was written by the author in response to the conflict in Gaza on 30 December 2023 and first published on 1 October 2024 on their Substack blog “Another World,” Medium, and Instagram. Their they included the following introduction:
Ashamnu is included in viddui—confessional prayers best known as a prominent component of Yom Kippur liturgy and said by those who approach death.
This is fitting as it is the day we collectively rehearse our own death and therefore must collectively confess.
God will not hear our confessions though, if we do not make to repair the harm we have caused and continue to cause others.
Death is inevitable—a good seal is not guaranteed.
How do we atone for willful sins of such magnitude?
With the new year and Ten Days upon us beginning tomorrow at sunset, will we merit renewal?
“אָשַׁמְנוּ | Ashamnu for Gaza by B. Hallel” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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