Al Ḥeyt, by Stew Albert & Judy Gumbo (2006) • the Open Siddur Project

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, liberation, North America, וידוי vidui, סליחות səliḥot, על חטא Al Ḥeyt

Excerpt: Judy Gumbo co-authored this Al Ḥeit with her partner Stew Albert, ז״ל, before his passing in 2006. This Al Ḥeit was most recently used as part of Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street 5772. . . .

Content:

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	We have sinned By yielding to confusion and falling into passivity By indulging in fear By giving in to anger By not standing up for ourselves By thinking about Jewish values only on holy days By tolerating global warming, global disease and global poverty By being cynical about repairing the world By not defending Israel By not defending Palestine
	For all our sins, may the force that makes forgiveness possible, forgive us, pardon us and grant us atonement
	By not standing up to fanaticism, terrorism, rape and torture – no matter who the perpetrators are By not rocking the boat By not being grateful for our blessings By not loving enough By being indifferent to the rich getting richer and the poor staying miserable By allowing greed, in others and in ourselves, to go unchecked By not opposing laws that promise false security and deprive us of our freedoms and civil liberties By not opposing ballot measures that deprive us of basic rights
	For all our sins, may the force that makes forgiveness possible, forgive us, pardon us and grant us atonement
	By building fences on our borders By not actively opposing war and invasion of sovereign nations By being paralyzed by paranoia and hatred By living in the past and the future but not in the present By forgetting that we are co-creators of the Universe By not visiting the sick and the dying By not making the most of the limited time we have By speaking loshen hara^[1] Misrepresenting, harmful speech By forgetting how to smile
	For all our sins, may the force that makes forgiveness possible, forgive us, pardon us and grant us atonement
	By hiding from our wrongdoings By putting a stumbling block before the blind By not searching for the truth, wherever it lies By not recognizing the divine spark that dwells at the center of our being By not forgiving and asking God for forgiveness
	For all our sins, may the force that makes forgiveness possible, forgive us, pardon us and grant us atonement

We are grateful to Judy Gumbo for contributing the prayer she co-authored with Stew Albert ז״ל before his passing in 2006. Judy blogs at yippiegirl.com and can also be found on Facebook as “Yippie Girl.” She invites friendly folk to friend her via her FB page “Judy Gumbo Albert.” This Al Ḥeit was most recently used as part of Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street 5772. For more information, visit the community page of Occupy Judaism on Facebook.

Notes

Notes
1	Misrepresenting, harmful speech

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