For the Broken Heart

What do we place upon our hearts

To help us serve with dignity, in harmony and truth? (Exodus 28:2)

What do we place upon our hearts

To help us remember who and what we serve?                         (Exodus 28:12)

What do we place upon our hearts

When our hearts are broken,

Weary,

Anguished,

In despair?

 We place upon our hearts

            Names of those we love,

            Names of those we care for.

We place upon our hearts

            Names of those who have loved us,

            Names of those whose challenges, joys, pain and achievements we carry.

We place upon our hearts

            The gifts of the ancestors and hopes for the children.

And we place upon our hearts

            Qualities we yearn to live by,

            Ideals we seek to uphold.

I place upon my heart:

            Trust and faith,

            Strength and courage,

            Love and truth.

I place upon my heart

            The intention to be present,

            Even as the heart is broken open by grief.

 I place upon my heart the intention

            To seek the ner tamid,

            The always-light

            Hidden within the brokenness,

            Shining.

—Rabbi Yael Levy

9 Adar 5780