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על אלה אנו בוכים
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Al eleh anu bokhim, For these we weep,
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the Amazon, the lungs of the world,
and for the greed that goads people to burn the jungles
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For the Great barrier reef
and for the heat that bleaches the corals
and the storms that magnify their destruction
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For Redwoods clearcut
and for their multitudes of species that have lost their homes
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For plastic found in the deepest ocean and upon the highest mountain
and for the throwaway culture that devalues everything in our lives
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the murder of elephants, rhinos, pangolins
and for the retribution their extinction would deserve
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For Antarctica’s glaciers and the polar ice caps,
and for the penguins and polar bears that will go extinct
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For snowpack and glaciers everywhere,
and for the billions whose cities will be drowned,
whose farms will have no water
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the generations whose home we are ruining
and for the generation that knows this but doesn’t change course
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the deserts expanding from drought,
and the desert habitat shrinking before human development
and for the Saharah cheetah, for the fringe-toed lizard, the addax,
critically endangered
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For the undiscovered species
whose lives will blink out without our ever knowing them
and for the loss of wisdom, truth and beauty
that each one embodies on this planet
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the billions of animals living lives of torture to satisfy our gluttony
and for the pandemics and plagues that spread from these animals to humanity
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For a world suspended in nothingness
and for the anxiety we live with when we imagine this warm refuge lost
from a cold universe
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For all the untold losses and annihilations
suffered by the creatures of the Earth,
and for the ignorance that sees not,
and the callous hearts not broken
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For the wicked who prosper from war, homelessness, poverty, and the land’s ruin
and for the horror they bring on all while they shelter in their mansions
– Alas, how long will they prosper?
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the governments that refuse to act
and the leaders who thwart and reverse policies
that would save species, habitats, ecosystems,
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For own own sore hearts, living in a world of wounds
and for our children and generations to come,
for their fears and their hopes of a better world
Al eleh anu bokhim
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על אלה אנו בוכות
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For the wounding of God’s works,
and for the wounding of God’s image,
Al eleh anu bokhot
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על אלה אנו בוכים
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For the Breath of Life, desecrated, destroyed, defiled
Can You hear us, can You save us from ourselves?
Al eleh anu bokhim, for these we cry
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Teach us to care,
teach us to sit still, to observe, understand,
for the time is late
Impel us to act, let us triumph, at least enough,
Lest there be none left to cry
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