Given
the apocalyptic reality we are living in, I thought I'd shared once
again a poetic translation (although pretty spot on) of a daily
prayer said 2 times a day in Jewish liturgy that is powerfully
accurate today. This translation is a collaborative effort between
Rabbi Michael
Lerner and
me.
And
it will come to pass . . . If you love the Transformative Power of
the Universe (YHVH) with all your heart, with all your soul, and with
all your passions and using that energy, build a world based on these
teachings [mitzvot]: A world of love of the stranger/the other,
kindness, generosity and care, peace, compassion and nonviolence,
social, economic and environmental justice, and ecological
sensitivity, then the world will work. The sun will shine, the rain
will fall appropriate to its season, the earth will give forth her
produce and you and your animals will eat and be satisfied.
But
be careful . . . watch out . . . because if you don’t build a world
based on these teachings/mitzvot and instead build a world based on
selfishness and greed, consuming and producing without care for the
well-being of the planet or its inhabitants, constantly chasing and
hording after more money, power, fame, or land, building walls that
separate, voting rights for some and not others, economic systems
that benefit the few on the backs of the many then the world will not
work. Just as the social, economic, and political systems become
unbalanced, so will the ecological and environmental systems and
foundations of the earth and universe. The sun will not shine, the
rain will not fall appropriate to its season, the earth will not give
forth her produce, there will be a series of environmental
catastrophes – cities and nations alike will be consumed from
bursting waters, fires will spread throughout the lands, glaciers
will melt – and eventually you and your animals too will be wiped
off the face of the earth in one of these catastrophes.
So
. . . teach this to your children; talk about it in public, even when
your voice cracks and your knees shake, at services and events, even
when people get upset hearing it; talk about it in your home with
friends and family even if they are sick and tired of hearing about
it; talk about it when you walk by the way so that strangers hear
this message because this, this is the greatest spiritual need and
calling of our time. Talk about it when you go to sleep at night and
when you get up in the morning because you’ll forget. Bind it for a
sign upon your arm so it seeps into your heart and guides your
actions and a sign upon your third eye so it seeps deep into your
unconscious permeating every cell and pore of your being. Write it
for a sign upon your doorposts and upon your gates so that you
remember and all those who come into your home know the values by
which you live. If you do these things, and build a loving and just
world, then you and your children, and all children will have a long
life on this earth that God promised you.
God
spoke to Moses saying, “Tell the children of Israel to wear tzitzit
on the corners of their garments, to put a blue thread in the tzitzit
as an indication of the beauty of the universe and to catch your
attention when you are distracted, to look at these tzitzit as a
reminder of these teachings/mitzvoth so they do not forget them and
so you do them and live this way. I am the Transformative Power of
the Universe (YHVH) who brought you out of the narrow consciousness
of slavery, of constriction, to show you that systems and structures
of oppression are not fixed but created by human beings and can be
overthrown and transformed, and that the world can be fundamentally
healed, repaired and transformed. I am that force in truth.”
Ani
Ad-nai Elo-heichem asher hotzeiti etchem me’eretz Mitzrayim,
L’hiyot la’chem l’El-him Ani Ad-nai Elo-heichem. Emet
Written
in collaboration by Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cat Zavis
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