An Infinity of Amens, by Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi (15 October 2023)

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11 November 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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2023-2025 Israel–Hamas war, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers as poems, קינות Ḳinōt

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	There are no words for this moment. How are we to feel… About the fires in the sand And the black rivers of loss.
	And how the enemy unleashed horrors on them.
	There are not enough memorial candles… For those forced to leave the hallways of their hearts. Cut down, years before their time.
	And now everything, everything, everything Will remember that they were there.
	There are no more tears, For the nation-wide alerts, For crimson stained pillowcases, For a charred red tricycle, For a desecrated woman, A mother’s anguish, a father’s brokenness, For the obliteration Of every single, dear, treasured One-and-only, life—an extinguished universe.
	There are no words.
	Nevertheless, we gather now with wounded hearts, And we lift each other up with weary arms, And we pray with shattered spirits for shalom, peace.
	Reeling… Rising… Reciting… Ancient prayers and finding our voice, Whispering an infinity of amens.

“An infinity of amens” was written by Hanna Yerushalmi on 15 October 2023 in the aftermath of the massacres on Shemini Atseret 5784.

Hanna Yerushalmi

Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi is a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) with the State of Maryland. She earned a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling from Bowie State University, a CACREP certified program. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor through the National Board for Certified Counselors. Hanna has training and supervision working with clients recovering from domestic violence and sexual abuse, through her internship at the YWCA of Annapolis, as well as training working with clients struggling with addiction, through her practicum at Pathways, Anne Arundel Medical Center.

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An interfaith prayer Gathering for Israel held October 10, at Temple Beth Sholom synagogue in Suntree, Florida.(credit: Tim Shortt/Florida Today)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)

An Infinity of Amens, by Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi (15 October 2023)

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