Rosh Hashanah 2024: a simple prayer
For when we recite “May we be inscribed in the Book of Life”
We hold in our hearts
every hostage and their families, who are not celebrating this new year.
We pray fervently
for their urgent redemption, and afterwards, their families’ healing.
We yearn
for the end of terror perpetrated by the enemies of freedom.
We ache
for the people living in Gaza and the West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Syria and hope for the day that they can be governed by leaders worthy of their humanity.
We believe
that Israel and its neighbors will find a path to a better future, together.
We rededicate
ourselves to the pursuit of freedom and safety in America and in Israel for all, when “Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.”
When we recite “May we be inscribed in the Book of Life”
we will imagine freedom and prosperity of our families and friends, the Jewish people, the United States of America, the State of Israel, and all of humanity.