Shabbat Prayer Service Tonight

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

Tonight, due to popular request, I will be leading a special virtual healing Shabbat (Sabbath) service for comfort, hope and peace (October 13th, 6PM Atlantic (5PM Eastern/6:30 PM NFLD). Please email me for the zoom link. Services will be virtual, in English with some Hebrew which will be translated and transliterated. We will have a guided meditation, along with music and trauma-informed prayers for healing comfort and spiritual sustenance. All are welcome.

I know you are as devastated, conflicted, pained, terrified and saddened as I am by this week’s events. From a psychological and spiritual perspective, we need to draw strength from one another when our circles of support may feel less safe, and our grief over the loss of human life is tearing us up. The world is polarizing by design and regardless of our feelings about the complexities of the Middle East, our hearts are broken. 

The soul needs hope like the body needs oxygen. Tonight we will gather in prayer and in solidarity with one another and with human beings everywhere who are grieving and terrified. Let us focus on what unites us and can help us make it through another week and as people across the planet continue to pit us all against each other. May terrorism stop and may Life be preserved in whatever ways that we pray clearly elude those in power right now. The nuances of the solution will divide us, but the gathering can unite us. Therefore, let us come together in grief and in prayer… May this decision to join with others help us find our way to the glimmers of hope that can help us do what we can, from our unique positionality, to find comfort and strength and clarity for what our own path forward may need to become…

I know that this is last minute, and I will also record and post the service, if you can’t make it. But many have said that they would like to be with other like-minded people who understand that the answer to our problems is far more complex than many of the people around us are suggesting. Together, let us draw strength from one another and from Jewish tradition, that we may bring a healing greater than we can imagine.

However you choose to spend Shabbat, may it nourish you and grant you respite and clarity, hope and focus so that, together, we may make our world a better place. The Rabbis teach: we can’t fix the entire world, but neither are we free to do nothing. We must do what we can, where we can: and as Rebbe Nachman reminds us: “v’ha-ikar, lo l’fached” (the most important is that fear not stop us from doing what is right). If you can, click on this video to hear this beautiful English and Hebrew song of Rebbe Nachman’s wise words. May it bring you enough comfort that you can catch your breath, so that together, we can keep moving forward to do what we can to heal this terrifyingly broken world that is ours to share.

Published by Rabbi Dr. Nachshon Siritsky

This blog was first started when I was known as Rabbi Nadia and when I worked south of the colonial border, in what is known as the United States. I served as a rabbi of several large and small synagogues across Turtle Island (North America) before moving the beautiful unceded Mi'kma'ki (colonial name: Nova Scotia, Canada) where I work as a social worker. I also support a growing group of Jewish communities that are part of The Chavurah Collective: Decolonizing Judaism in Mi'kma'ki and Beyond and use this personal blog to post services that I lead, and which are open to anyone interested in joining. As a second-generation Holocaust survivor and someone who identifies as nonbinary and transgender, I feel called to create a world free from hatred and prejudice. I understand the closet to be a metaphor for the ways that colonization/society has wounded us through intergenerational trauma that manifests in intersectional ways. I believe in the universality of spiritual teachings across traditions and their alignment with contemporary psychological theory. As I transition from serving as a pulpit rabbi to becoming a community rabbi, I've maintained this blog as a platform to share my theology and connect with others, especially as part of my personal sense of Calling to advocate for "tikkun olam" (=the healing of the world). Canada's recent commitment to begin a restorative justice process of Truth and Reconciliation has inspired me to reflect upon the ways that decolonizing one's self can lead to restorative justice and a global healing: this blog reflects my effort to distill these insights. Just as the fringes of a prayer shawl hold its holiness, I believe my greatest contribution lies in guiding others home and towards wholeness. Having exited my gender closet, I have continued to emerge and am committed to doing what I can to help others become who they were created to be. Engaging in the sacred work of beginning to decolonize myself, I seek to share these insights with others and to advocate for the equal rights and healing potential that I believe is what G!d wants for us all. Through this blog, I hope to inspire healing, insight, and empowerment, inviting others to find their voice and path. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

Published