A Prayer for the Dead of Tree of Life Congregation

   by Rabbi Naomi Levy

We are devastated, God,
Our hearts are breaking
In this time of shock and mourning.
The loss is overwhelming.
Send comfort and strength, God,
To grieving family members.
Send healing to the injured,
Send strength and wisdom
to their doctors and nurses.
Bless the courageous police officers who risked their lives
To protect innocent lives.

Shield us from despair, God,
Ease our pain.
Let our fears give way to hope.
Lead us to join together as a nation
To put an end to anti-Semitism,
An end to hatred,
An end to gun violence.

Teach us, God, to honor the souls we have lost
By raising our hands
and voices together
In the cause of peace.
Because Torah is a Tree of Life
And all its paths are peaceful.

Work through us, God.
Turn our helplessness into action.
Teach us to believe that we can
rise up from this tragedy
And banish the hate
that is tearing our world apart.
We must never be indifferent
to the plight of any who suffer.
We must learn to care,
To open our hearts
and open our hands.
Innocent blood is calling out to us.

God of the brokenhearted,
God of the living, God of the dead,
Gather the souls of the victims
Into Your eternal shelter.
Let them find peace
in Your presence, God.
Their lives have ended
But their lights
can never be extinguished.
May they shine on us always
And illuminate our way.
Amen.

Note: Naomi Levy was in the first class of women at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the first female Conservative rabbi to lead a congregation on the West Coast. Her path to becoming a rabbi began when she was 15 and experienced the tragedy of her father being killed in an armed robbery on a Brooklyn street as he walked home. She wrote the book, To Begin Again, which was the only book that spoke to me when I suffered the sudden death of loved one. May this poem reach those in Pittsburgh and be of help to any of you suffering now.