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Here is a prayer opposing extremist settler violence that I’ve been working on for Tishah b’Av. I finished it Monday at the National Library in Jerusalem. Please pass this on! Dedicated to Awdah al-Hathaleen, whose spirit and kindness and courage remain with us – neohasid.org, Tishah b’Av 2026
לנוכח כל המלחמות, דם הפלסטינים והבדויאים בשתחים של הגדה המערבית, המכונים יהודה ושומרון, מוסיף להישפך, נגד כל המחאות שבתורה. גם נשפכו דמים בשמה של תורה, וחלילה לנו על חלול השם. התפילה הזאת של קינה ואזהרה היא בשביל חיי כל עמי הארץ ובשביל לב של עם ישראל, שלא נהפוך לאכזרים. |
In the face of so many wars, the blood of the Palestinians and Bedouin in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, continues to be spilled, contrary to all the protests of the Torah. This blood is even spilled in the name of the Torah, God forbid such a desecration of the divine name. This is a prayer of lament and warning for the sake of the lives of all the peoples of the land, and for the sake of the heart of the Jewish and Israeli people, to help us all resist the cruelty that beckons. |
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
דַּם עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ נִשְׁפָּךְ עַל הָאֲדָמָה שֶׁחַיֵּיהֶם תְּלוּיִים בָּהּ, וְגַם תִּקְוָתָם נִרְדֶּפֶת וְכִמְעַט מְגֹרֶשֶׁת. נִגְנְבוּ צֹאנָם וְנִשְׂרְפוּ בָּתֵּיהֶם, בְּאוּם אֶל־חַיְיר, בְּמוּכְנָאס, בְּמַסָּאפֶר יַאטָה וְכוּלֵּי, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְגֹרְשׁוּ תּוֹשָׁבִים לֹא־יְהוּדִי מִן הַשֶּׁטַח וּמֵאַדְמָתָם. וְכָל הָאָסוֹן הַזֶּה נַעֲשָׂה עַל־יְדֵי יִשְׂרְאֵלִים יְהוּדִים הַמַּגְבִּיהִים עֹצְמָה וְגַאֲוָה מֵעַל זְכֻיּוֹת הָאָדָם וּמְעוֹרְרִים שִׂנְאָה כְּלַפֵּי בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁאֵינָם יְהוּדִים. |
The blood of the peoples of the land has been spilled upon the soil on which their lives depend, and even their hope is persecuted and almost driven away. Their flocks have been stolen and their homes burned— in Umm al-Khair, in Mukhmas, in Masafer Yatta, and elsewhere— in order that non-Jewish residents be driven from the territory and from their soil. And all this calamity has been wrought by Jewish Israelis who elevate power and pride above human rights, and who arouse hatred toward people in the land who are not Jews. |
וְאִם הָאָרֶץ הִיא אַדְמַת קֹדֶשׁ, אוֹי לְמִי שֶׁהוֹפֵךְ אוֹתָהּ לְאֶרֶץ זָבַת דְּמֵי הַבְּרִיּוֹת, לְהָזְמִין ”שֶׁבֶר גָּדוֹל מֵהַגְּבָעוֹת“ (צפניה א:י), כִּי אָמְרָה הַתּוֹרָה לַכֹּל, ”לֹא תַחֲנִיפוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּהּ, כִּי הַדָּם הוּא יַחֲנִיף אֶת הָאָרֶץ“ (במדבר לה:לג), וְגַם נֶאֱמַר ”כִּי לֹא לְפָנָיו חָנֵף יָבוֹא“ (איוב יג:טז) וְ”תִּקְוַת חָנֵף תֹּאבֵד“ (איוב ח:יג). |
And if this land is holy ground, woe to those who turn it into a land flowing with the blood of humanity, bringing upon it “a great shattering from the hilltops” (Zephaniah 1:10). For the Torah said to all: “You shall not pollute the land you dwell in, for blood pollutes the land” (Numbers 35:33). And it was also said: “For the one who pollutes shall not come before God’s Presence” (Job 13:17), and “the hope of the one who pollutes will be lost” (Job 8:13). |
וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לוֹמַר ”יָדֵינוּ לֹא שָׁפְכוּ אֶת הַדָּם הַזֶּה, וְעֵינֵינוּ לֹא רָאוּ“ (דברים כא:ז), כִּי רָאִינוּ כָּל יוֹם וָיוֹם בְּכָל מָסָךְ שֶׁהֻנַּח בְּיָדֵינוּ. וְכִי אִם לֹא שָׁפְכוּ יָדֵינוּ אֶת הַדָּם הַזֶּה, רַגְלֵינוּ עוֹמְדוֹת עָלָיו, נִרְטָבוֹת מִמֶּנּוּ. וְאִם לֹא רָאִינוּ, הַחֵטְא הוּא שֶׁלָּנוּ כִּי הֶעֱלַמְנוּ אֶת עֵינֵינוּ וְהִתְעַלַּמְנוּ מִצֶּלֶם אֱלֹהִים שֶׁבָּאָדָם. אָכֵן אָמַר הַנָּבִיא, אִם ”לֹא דִבַּרְתָּ לְהַזְהִיר רָשָׁע מִדַּרְכּוֹ“, אָז ”רָשָׁע בַּעֲוֹנוֹ יָמוּת וְדָמוֹ מִיָּדְךָ אֲבַקֵּשׁ“ (יחזקאל לג:ח). |
And we cannot say: “Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen” (Deuteronomy 21:7), for we can see it, day after day, on every screen placed into our hands. And even if our hands have not shed this blood, our feet stand on it, and are wetted by it. And if we say, we have not seen, the sin remains ours, for we have hidden our eyes, and so hidden ourselves from the image of God in all humanity. For truly the prophet said, if “you did not speak to warn the wicked from his way,” then “the wicked shall die in his wrongdoing, and his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 33:8). |
לְנֹכַח כָּל זֹאת, אֵיכָה נַעֲמֹד דּוּמָמִים בְּיוֹם אֲבֵלוּתֵינוּ וּבְיוֹם תַּעֲנִיתֵינוּ, וְאֵיכָה לֹא נִזְעַק לַעֲצֹר עָווֹן גָּדוֹל כָּזֶה, שֶׁנָּפַל גַּם עַל שִׁכְמֵינוּ וְגַם עַל הָאָרֶץ שֶׁהִיא קְדוֹשָׁה לָנוּ, הָאָרֶץ שֶׁנּוֹעַדְנוּ לָשֶׁבֶת בָּהּ יַחַד עִם הַפַּלֶּסְטִינִים עַל־פִּי רְצוֹן הַמָּקוֹם. |
Facing all this, how can we stand silent on our day of mourning and fasting? How can we not cry out to stop such a great sin, which has fallen both upon our shoulders and upon the land that is holy to us— the land in which we are destined to dwell together with the Palestinians, according to the will of the One who is the place of the world? |
וְאָנוּ זוֹכְרִים הַיּוֹם בְּפַחַד מַה שֶּׁאָמְרָה תּוֹרָה: ”וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא יְכֻפַּר לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ בָּהּ, כִּי אִם בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ“ (במדבר לה:לג), רַחֲמָנָא לִיצְלַן. |
So we remember today with fear what the Torah has said: “And for the land there can be no atonement for the blood that has been spilled upon it, except by the blood of the one who spilled it” (Numbers 35:33), may the Compassionate One save us. |
אָז עָלֵינוּ לָשֵׂאת אֶת קוֹלֵנוּ לִדְרֹשׁ מִשְׁפָּט לַגֵּר וְלָאֶבְיוֹן, כְּדֵי שֶׁ”יִּשְׂאוּ הָרִים שָׁלוֹם לָעָם וּגְבָעוֹת בִּצְדָקָה“ (תהלים עב:ג), שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, ”צִיּוֹן בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָה“ (ישעיה א:כז). |
Therefore, let us raise our voice to demand justice for the stranger and the poor, so that “the mountains will uplift peace for the people, and the hilltops will, through righteousness” (Psalms 72:3), as it is said: “Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her captives, those who return to her, through righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27). |
This prayer by Rabbi David Seidenberg, in opposition to Israeli-Jewish settler violence in the Israeli territories under military jurisdiction, was written on 20 July 2026 in Jerusalem, and shared through the Open Siddur Project via its discussion group on Facebook.
“Prayer against extremist settler violence for Tishah b’Av 5786, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neoḥasid·org, 2026)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license.
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