Judith wrote to us, “This is a prayer that I wrote when I visited the wall last year. I am so grateful for the work that you do and wanted to share this with you…”
At the Kotel
So many prayers: remaining testament
Alive in the flow of prayer and pain and passion poured in
Absorbing and responding
Meeting g-d; electrified, awash with love and longing
Weeping aching humanity touching vivid holiness
Human spirit and sacredness pulsating together
Energy and spirit
All color, no color, prisms, rings
Cool stone, warm hand
Love and pain interchangeable
The spectrum of all that has been and is and will be
A monument of history and being and promise
A piece of home.
Deep inside each a prayer
Here spilling freely
Wall of raw humanity; a glimpse of sacred possibility
Prayers collective, flowing together to try to touch the holy
Pouring in, taking out
The G-d of our ancestors, the godliness within, the G-d of infinite possibilities
We remember, we hold close, we thank, we beg, we come with hopefulness or hopelessness, with curiosity and reverence and respect
Pouring hearts and souls into who you have been to us and who you are to us; feeling your presence in the temple of yesterday and today
Blanketed in hope and yearning, we reach to touch you and are touched ourselves
We leave changed
We leave together
We leave a part of our own history
We leave with belief
And we leave a part of ourselves here
Knowing it becomes a part of a whole
An original poem by Judith Zirin-Hyman
Photo credit: Hila Shiloni