TESHUVAH TO ANIMALS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

 

 

Today, as we celebrate Rosh Hodesh Elul, the New Year of the Animals, we can consider what we have done or what we should have done for our planet. 

Consider your environment and go sit outside. 

Close your eyes and listen to the ambient sounds. 

Note what you hear: Birds? Insects ?  Dogs?

Touch the earth. Feel the vibrations within:

Note what you feel: Worms?  Ants? Moles?

Consider our love of animals.

Consider the devastation we have brought upon our planet.

Consider all the beasts who will die,

Consider all the beasts who will manage to adapt,

Consider the few beasts who will flourish. 

For all the beasts who will die off,

We acknowledge that we blew it. 

We failed to act in time to save your beautiful species. 

We mourn the loss of biodiversity and

We mourn the loss of the individual lives you did not get to lead. 

We apologize and hope that you can pardon us, forgive us, let us atone for our sins against you.

For all the beasts and species who will manage to adapt to the damage,

I guess we could say this is just the natural process of evolution 

But that would be a lie.  Humans did this very bad thing. 

We have forced you to forage for food in our suburbs  

And punished you with death or imprisonment just for trying to live. 

We apologize and hope that you can pardon us, forgive us, let us atone for our sins against you.

For the few beasts and species who will flourish through the crises

Our beloved dogs and cats and other pets

And also domestic beasts like cattle and chickens,

You will survive because we need you for love and food. 

Happy New Year!

We apologize and hope that you can pardon us, forgive us, let us atone for our sins against you.

Consider the animals. 

We must return and do teshuvah, 

But it’s not enough to apologize. 

We must promise to try to save our home, our planet,

And the future for everybody.

For the selfish devastation we have brought upon our planet

For all the beasts who will die

For all the beasts who will manage to adapt

For the few beasts who will flourish

We apologize and hope that you can pardon us, forgive us, let us atone for our sins against you.

And let us say, 

Amen 

Mourning Our Losses

 

Art by Mike Cockrill

Blessed One-ness,

Nuance is abandoned 

In this era of existential threats. 

Perhaps it was always a middle class luxury. 

Now everybody seems to think

The survival of who they are

Is on the line. 

But we miss it

And mourn our loss

And pray for its return

Empathy is superfluous 

In this time of extreme right and wrong

Perhaps it was just a pretense. 

Isn’t it fun to be cruel?

Anyone else’s feelings 

Are a bore. 

But we miss it

And mourn our loss

And pray for its return

Kindness is for suckers

In this new time of trolls and happy attackers. 

Perhaps we just awaited the internet

To show our creepiest sides. 

When no one knows your name, 

Why care?

But we miss it

And mourn our loss 

And pray for its return

Grief is the outcome 

So let us sit on the ground

In this time of communal sorrow 

And pound the passive floor. 

Let us be angry 

At the unnecessary pain. 

We do miss who we thought we were. 

We shall mourn all the murdered. 

We must pray we improve.  

Amen

MOURNING PRAYER FOR YOUR PETS

 

Our domesticated beasts, our animals,  when they trust you, you are blessed.  

And when that gift of joy and love and attention and nowness dies, we miss them so much. We suffer.  We mourn. Why do they have to live such short lives?

In June of 2022  I lost Buster, my cat.  He was 23. Here he is:

Blessed Holy Wholeness

Breath of the Universe 

Breathing us in

Breathing us out. 

Remembering us

Remembering our companions

Who let us love them with a full and pure heart

And who loved us back the same way. 

Amen

We were blessed to have them 

As  long as we did

And though I am really sad that they are gone,

I am really glad that they were here. 

Amen

I give thanks to the Holy Connector,

The One-ness that is eternal,

Which I experienced 

Through my sweet beasts. 

Amen

Brucha HaShleimot

Ruach ha Olam,

Breathing us in

Breathing us out.

We remember them,

We mourn their loss

And their memories are a blessing. 

And let us say, 

Amen

 

Making Decisions on July Fourth

In this holy space that is Independence Day

We can pause our pain

And look for compassion 

And then for truth

Before we decide upon

Our response. 

In this holy space that is Independence Day

We can pray to observe others’ anger

With tenderness 

And understanding 

Before we choose 

Our reaction. 

In this holy space that is Independence Day

We can stop and note,

With honest respect,

All ambient sounds and feelings

And then decide for freedom 

And hope.

WE ARE AFRAID /A prayer for hope

 

It is everywhere:

Anger, grief, fear, war, 

Famine, corruption, greed, 

And paranoia. 

The willfully malignant

Who live to hate, and

Fools who despise science and learning —

It’s horrible 

And we are afraid.  

We were afraid so

We prayed for it all to go away

But it didn’t 

So now we pray for survival. 

May this era pass (as all eras eventually do)

With the least amount of 

Damage and pain possible 

To our bodies and spirits and

To our freedom and to our planet.

We are afraid but going forward.

We pray for the strength to resist the cruelty 

And the brains to know when to hide. 

We pray for elders’ counsel and youths’ outrage,

Brilliant strategies and victories,

Adequate funding,

Joy when it can be found and

Kindness when it cannot. 

And hope. 

We pray for hope. 

Amen

A Prayer For Democracy

Blessed Holy Wholeness,

The Powers That Be

May be

In power

For now. 

But we are the powers 

that were 

and are 

and will be. 

Amen

Roofs (for Sukkot)

 

What does a roof do?

It keeps out the rain

It keeps in the warmth

It keeps us safe from lions and robbers

It protects the TVs and the computers

It protects our beds while we sleep 

It protects our futures from the future. 

Roofs are good. 

So why on Sukkot 

Do we eat dinner outside 

In a temporary hut

With holes in the roof?

It doesn’t make sense!

What do holes in a roof do?

They let in the weather 

They let us breathe fresh air

They let us hear our neighbors and friends

They remind us of when we slept in the fields

They remind us how to be without our phones

They remind us that our history is long and complicated.  

Blessed Holy Wholeness,

We honor the rituals 

That don’t make sense 

Because sometimes they do

Like holes in the roof

And breathing fresh air. 

Amen

Seen (for Elul)

Blessed Wholeness,

What do we see when we look?

Do we see it even if we’re not looking?

Where should we look?

What if we don’t know we’re seeing it?

Is it in the forest? The neighborhood?  A pew?

What about dogs?

When is it easy to spot?

Is it just a projection?

Does it know when we’re sorry?

What looks at us? 

Where is it watching from?

Does it form an opinion?

Does it see us even if no one else does?

Does it see us when we’re wrong? 

Does it ever apologize?

Does it make jokes?

Is it everywhere?

Are we alone?

What do we see when we see ourselves?

Is self-delusion sometimes appropriate?

If we see something, should we say?

Or if we see it, is it better to be nice?

What if it’s none of our business ?

But what if it’s the truth?

Who gets to say what is true?

What if the truth is annoying?

Can being seen be more important than being loved?

I see. 

I don’t see. 

I am seen. 

I am not seen. 

I need truth. 

I need delusion. 

I miss my old dog. 

I apologize. 

I accept your apology. 

Amen

LEARN ABOUT THE SHABBAT LITURGY WITH ME

To me, the service is a story which makes the congregant the protagonist. And the protagonist should be at least a little transformed at the end of a story, which is hard to do when you don’t know what’s going on.  So if you’re re interested in learning about what you’re saying and singing on Shabbat mornings, let me help you make it your story. 

In my opinion, the two words that sum up my kind of Judaism are Obligation (to community, ethics, tikkun olam, teshuvah, learning, etc. ) and Doubt (we love questions!)  No faith or belief necessary although welcome if you’ve got it.  Personally, I hold at least two contradictory ideas in my head about God-ness at the same time most of the time. 

We can design a learning agenda that’s specific for you but what I usually do is go through the entire Shabbat morning service from the first Modeh Ani (I give thanks) to the kiddish and V’shamru  we can go fast or slow, and, if you want, stopping during holidays to study rhe holiday liturgy and, at any point, writing your own versions of the prayers.  

There’s reading material for learning detailed history and tradition (which you can read or not as you desire ) but the heart of it is you and I going through the service and talking about what each component means personally, spiritually, politically, theologically, all of it.  

We can do this via zoom or in person. 

Email me at Trisha.arlin@gmail.com if you’re interested  

Trisha

Freedom And Deep Rest

Art by Carolyn Hall

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” Viktor Frankl

In this holy space that is Shabbat day

We can pause our pain

And look for compassion 

And then for truth

Before we decide upon

Our response. 

In this holy space that is Shabbat day

We can pray to observe others’ anger

With tenderness 

And understanding 

Before we choose 

Our reaction. 

In this holy space that is Shabbat day

We can stop and note 

All ambient sounds and feelings

And then, with honest respect,

Decide for freedom and 

A deep rest. 

Amen