Praying with the News
Dear Friends,
These times we are living in require our constant practice—our continued willingness and capacity to return to center, to return to connection, to return to love, so that we can continue to be part of the healing of this very fractured world.
I hear this week’s Torah portion, Korach, speaking to this challenge:
In the midst of the wilderness,
In the time of wandering,
Korach gathered followers and grasped for power.
Feigning communal concern,
He attempted to seize control.
His confrontation with Moshe,
Yielded a startling result:
The earth opened and swallowed Korach and his family,
Alive and whole.
And deep within the ground, below the shifting sands,
Korach and his children lived, listened and grew.
Over time, the earth taught them wisdom
And now they sing eternal songs,
Sharing truths they learned:
Contentment comes from knowing that in each moment we dwell within the Divine Presence and the Divine Presence dwells within us. (Psalm 84:5)
The Source of All is our refuge and strength,
Our help in distress,
Very present, always here. (Psalm 46:2)
Like a deer yearning for brooks and streams,
My soul yearns for the Mystery.
My soul thirsts for the Source of All, for the Source of all Life. (Psalm 42: 2-3)
Send forth sacred light and truth, they will lead me. (Psalm 43:3)
Let my mouth will speak wisdom. May the meditations of my heart bring understanding. (Psalm 49:4)
Love and truth meet,
Peace and Justice embrace.
Truth sprouts from the earth
And justice sees from the heavens. (Psalm 85:11-12)
May ancient songs discovered in adversity and rooted in wisdom that sprouts from earth inspire our souls. And together may we find ways to heal the human heart so that arrogance and the grasping for power give way to deep compassion, abiding love, true justice and lasting peace.
With love and blessing,
Rabbi Yael
12 Psalms are attributed to the children of Korach: Psalms 42-49, 84, 85, 87, 88. (Psalm 43 does not say “children of Korach” but is literarily joined to the preceding psalm.)