“Whether righteous or unrighteous, all shall pray as one community.”
At this moment, when we should be forgiving,
when we should be most concerned for the judgment we deserve,
we remain unable to forgive,
we remain unable to feel forgiven,
we are even unable to feel deserving of forgiveness.
All these thoughts isolate us.
We are stubborn in our own righteousness, and
we despair if we can ever be righteous,
All these thoughts isolate us.
We cannot still and calm our minds,
cannot stop ourselves from judging others, or,
cannot stop feeling being judged.
We cannot connect with those among whom we sit,
Sadly, we cannot even reach out past our isolation.
All these thoughts isolate us.
This one small thing I ask:
whether I am righteous or unrighteous,
whether my neighbors are righteous or unrighteous,
Just please, let us pray for forgiveness as one united community.

Shared by Ellen Dannin
Modified by Rabbi Miriam Hamrell