![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
DOWNLOAD: PDF
The prayers for hurricane, storm, drought, and fire victims that are circulating here and elsewhere are poignant and heartfelt, but they don’t speak an important piece of the truth that we need to hear. What about our collective responsibility for climate disruption that undoubtedly increases the harm caused by this and every major storm? And what about the Deuteronomic promise that God brings us recompense for our actions davka through the weather? Here’s an attempt at a prayer that incorporates a deeper understanding of our responsibility. For a longer essay on the concerns inspiring the composition of this prayer, please read “After the Storm: How Should we Pray?,” at The Times of Israel.
TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.
| Hebrew | English |
|---|---|
”הַעִידֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ.“ (דברים ל:יט) |
“I call on the skies and the land to witness against you today: Life and death I have put before you, the blessing and the curse. And so choose life, in order that you will live, you and your seed.” (Deuteronomy 30:19) |
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, צִוִּיתָנוּ ”וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים“ (דברים ל:יט), וּבְנֵי דוֹרֵנוּ אֵינֵנּוּ הִבְחִינוּ בִּבְחִירַת הַחַיִּים. וְכֻלָּנוּ אַחֲרָאִים גַם בַּעַל כּוֹרְחֵנוּ גַם מִבְּחִירַתֵנוּ לְהַפְרַעַָת הַאַקְלִים שֶׁסָבִיר לְהַגְדִּיל הַסְּעָרוֹת וְהַשְּׂרֵפוֹת וּבַצוֹרוֹת וְהַסּוּפוֹת וְהַהֲצָפוֹת הַקָּטְלָנִיוֹת, וּכְמוֹ כֵן אַחֲרָאִים וּלְרַפֹּאתוֹ. |
Master of the Universe, You commanded us, “Choose life,” Deuteronomy 30:19) but the people of our generation cannot discern how to choose life. We are all of us responsible, whether by necessity or by our choices, for the disruption of the climate that has intensified these storms, fires and plagues, droughts, and deadly floods, and so we are responsible for its healing. |
מְבַקְּשִׁים אֲנַחְנוּ אֶת הַכֹּחַ לְקַבֵּל אַחֲרָיוּת עָלֵינוּ עַתָּה לַעֲזוֹר לְאֵלוּ שֶׁנִפְגָעִים עַל יְדֵי הַסְּעָרָוֹת הַשְׂרֵיפוֹת הַמִּשְׁתוֹלְלוֹת, וּלְהִמָשֵׁך לַעֲזוֹר לְעוּמַת הַסְּעָרוֹת הַבָּאוֹת, וְלִתְּמוֹךְ בְּאֵלוּ שֶׁמִּצְטָרְפִים בַּעֲבוֹדוֹת הַהַצָּלָה וְהַסְעַד וְהַבִּנְיָן וּלְחַבֵּר אִתָּם. וְאָנוּ מִתְּפַּלְּלִים בְּעַד כָּל הַבְּרוּאִים וְכָל אָדָם הַנִזְקָקִים וְחֲשׁוּפִים ”כַּעֲבוֹר סוּפָה“, (משלי י:כה חלק) נָא לְהוֹשִׁיעֵם! |
We seek the strength to accept our responsibility now to help those damaged by raging firestorms and to continue helping in the face of coming storms, to support all those engaged in rescue and relief and rebuilding, and to join with them. And we pray for all the creatures (human and non-human), who are in need and exposed “by the passage of the storm” (Proverbs 10:25 partial) — please save them! |
כִּי אַתָּה ”הַיֹּסֵר גוֹיִים“ וְ”הַמְלַמֵּד אָדָם דַּעַת“ (תהלים צד:י) — נָא לְלַמְּדֵנוּ אֶת הַדֶרֶךְ קָדִימָה לָקַחַת אַחֲרָיוּת זֶה אֶל זֶה וְאַחֲרָיוּת עַל עַתִּיד הָעוֹלָם הַנִּפְלָא עַל יְדֵי חָזוֹן וְלֹא לַעֲזוֹבוֹ בִּידֵי אָסוֹן. עֲזוֹר לָנוּ לִבְחוֹר בְּדֶרֶךְ הַחַיִּים מְיוּסָד עַל הַצֶדֶק, כִּי ״צַדִּיק יְסוֹד עוֹלָם״ (משלי י:כה חלק), לְמַעַן יִתְּקַיֵּם בָּנוּ לִבְנֵינוּ וּלִבְנֵי בָּנֵינוּ הַכָּתוּב, ”בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה בָּעִיר וּבָרוּךְ אַתָּה בַּשָּׂדֶה“, (דברים כח:ג), שֶּׁלֹא נֶאֱבָד ”מְהֵרָה מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה“. (דברים יא:יז) |
For You are “the One who reproves nations” and “who teaches humanity knowledge.” (Cf. Psalms 94:10) — Please teach us the path forward to take responsibility for each other and for the future of this wondrous planet through vision, not abandoin it to calamity. Help us choose a way of life rooted in justice, for “the just are a foundation for the world” (Proverbs 10:25 part), in order that the promise will be upheld through us for our children and our children’s children, as it is written: “Blessed will you be in the city, blessed will you be in the field” (Deuteronomy 28:3), so that we may not be lost “quickly from off the good earth” (Deuteronomy 11:17). |
This prayer was originally written in the context of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and updated in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Rabbi Seidenberg wishes to remind everyone seeking prayers for the victims of this seasonal hurricane, that we are not just dealing with Harvey but with monsoon floods covering a third of Bangladesh, where over 1200 have already died – far worse than our hurricane here.
Rabbi Seidenberg adds, “For the final version of this prayer, I started with an anonymous Hebrew translation of my original English prayer, then I tweaked it and wove in scriptural references, and retranslated it back into English.” Aharon Varady, Baruch Sienna, and Hinda Labovitz all assisted in helping to prepare this prayer on the Open Siddur Project Facebook discussion group.
This prayer was most recently updated in 2025 in response to the devastating fires impacting the Los Angeles area.
“כַּעֲבוֹר סוּפָה | After the Storm, a prayer to “choose life” in the face of climate disruption by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Stable Link:
https://opensiddur.org/?p=5439
Associated Image:
“Still frame from an animation of Hurricane Harvey” (credit: NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), located at the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), PD)
(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)
Terms of Use:
Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Properly attribute the work to David Seidenberg and Neohasid·org.
- Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
- Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=5439>.
- Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)
Additional Notes:
- The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
- We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
- If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.
Support this work:
The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.
ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17
Comments, Corrections, and Queries