Praying with the News

Dear Friends,

Today, Thursday, July 9th is the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz. It is a fast day initiating a three-week period of mourning that leads to tisha b’av, the day that marks the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 CE.

Tradition teaches that the people’s hatred towards those who were different and their unwillingness to treat each other with fairness, dignity and respect, caused the Divine Presence to flee the sacred Temple and leave it vulnerable to attack.

These next three weeks in the Jewish calendar warn about the dangers of allowing hatred to grow in our hearts. The wisdom of the tradition acknowledges that hatred can feel energizing and “so right,” but allowing it to fill our bodies and guide our actions will lead to destruction.

Many years ago I was taught a practice of praying with the news. I have shared it over the years and it feels like an important practice to return to now.

In this practice, each time we read or listen to a news report that enrages us, we turn our attention to those being harmed and we pray for their healing and well-being. By doing so we open to feeling sadness and pain and we turn ourselves toward care and compassion. Praying with the news helps us bear witness to the devastation and mayhem, while keeping our hearts soft and our minds clear. It can strengthen us so we are better able to see how we can, and do, participate in bringing healing, justice and love.

In these increasingly challenging times we need each other to be strong and able. For these next three weeks let us practice praying with the news. As we do, may our collective awareness open, revealing possibilities not yet seen or imagined.

May the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts and the work of our hands be aligned for justice and peace.

Love and blessings,

—Rabbi Yael Levy