This was written as a kavanah For the Women of the Wall on Rosh Hashana 5774
From Rabbi Arthur Waskow: ‘There are three notes on the shofar- Tekiah, “Awake!”, Teruah ,”Open your heart!”, Shevarim, “Sob with all who suffer!”
Let us blow the shofar
So that everyone can hear:
Awake!
Open Your Heart!
Sob with all who suffer!
We pray for all who thus pray.
However you may gather
Only with your own kind,
Only with your own gender,
Only in mixed company.
After a kosher meal,
After a BLT,
In a minyan,
On your own.
In your holy language whatever it may be
Hebrew, Arabic, English, Yiddish, Latin, Russian, Sanskrit, Mandarin, Farsi, Spanish…
all the languages we yearn in.
Hebrew, Arabic, English, Yiddish, Latin, Russian, Sanskrit, Mandarin, Farsi, Spanish…
all the languages we yearn in.
At your holy sites
In a church,
In a temple,
In a shul,
In a mosque.
In a mosque.
In a forest,
In a foxhole,
On a mountain,
At a wall.
However you may be heard
Singing,
Singing,
Speaking,
Reciting,
Whispering,
Moaning,
Silently,
Blowing a shofar.
Silently,
Blowing a shofar.
However you may hold yourself
Eyes open,
Eyes closed,
Eyes open,
Eyes closed,
Kneeling,
Sitting,
Standing,
Shukeling,
Spinning.
For whatever reason
With your heart, wishing for the health of a loved one,
With your mouth, reciting liturgy for the continuation of community,
With your body, dancing for spiritual transcendence,
With your feet, acting for a socially just world.
Because when you pray
Whether in obligatory fulfillment of a commandment
Or in mindful awareness of every moment,
Whether in deepest faith or faithful doubt,
When you pray you are kadosh.
Whether in deepest faith or faithful doubt,
When you pray you are kadosh.
And we honor you
Even if you do not honor us.
Please remember,
You speak to God
You speak to God
But you do not speak FOR God
So let us blow the shofar now
So that everyone can hear
That on this holy day
We pray for all who pray
Even those who would stop us from our prayer.
Even those who would stop us from our prayer.
We pray with a loud joyful noise
So that we may be heard
Through all the walls
Because this is a holy conversation.
Through all the walls
Because this is a holy conversation.
Awake!
Open Your Heart!
Sob with all who suffer!
Amen.