Debra Darvick
enhance your now in word and imageJ-E-W
Why “J-E-W?”
Because it’s time to reclaim the word that defines my co-religionists and me. The derogation and hatred embedded in the word “Jew” is so deep and so old that we Jews, more often than not, self-identify as Jewish not Jew. In naming this page J-E-W, I reclaim the word even as it discomfits me. The dashes signal that space for reclamation. The dashes signal to every Jew that the spaces are ours to fill, ours to define. It is for us to imbue the word with all that Jews strive for, and were commanded to be, since Moses stood on Mount Sinai.
NOW
A Prayer for the World — Harold Kushner
Let the rain come and
wash away
the ancient grudges,
the bitter hatreds
held and nurtured over
generations.
Let the rain wash away
the memory
of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come
out and
fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun
heal us
wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog
so that
we an see each other
clearly.
Let the warmth and
brightness
of the sun melt our
selfishness.
So that we can share the
joys and
feel the sorrows of our
neighbors.
And let the light of the sun
be so strong that we will
see all
people as our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished
by rain,
bring forth flowers
to surround us with
beauty.
And let the mountains
teach our hearts
to reach upward to
heaven. Amen
One Shabbat, I read this poem by Rabbi Harold Kushner in our synagogue’s prayerbook, Siddur Lev Shalem. It is as timeless as it is beautiful.