A Concord Pastor Comments: Holocaust Remembrance Day

It is the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. Here are two prayers for this memorial, the first is my own and the second from my friend, Alden Solovy.

From Bondage to Freedom

• From the bondage of lies,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of truth and its pursuit…

• From the bondage of hatred,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom to love all peoples as you love them…

• From the bondage of bullying and cruelty,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of kindness, gentleness,
and compassion…

• From the bondage of religious persecution,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of awe and acceptance
in the face of others’ faith…

• From the bondage of power,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of placing others’ needs
ahead of our own…

• From the bondage of tyranny,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of liberty shaped by fair rule…

• From the bondage of war,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of peace justly won
and mutually secured…

• From the bondage of slavery,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of serving you in serving one another…

• From the bondage of racism,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of being one family,
made in your image…

• From the bondage of persecution,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom to lift up those who are oppressed…

• From the bondage of torture and genocide,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom of respecting and reverencing
the dignity of every human being…

• From the forgetting that leads us to repeat the sins of the past,
deliver us, O God,
and give us the freedom to remember, lest we ever forget…

-Austin Fleming

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Shoah Memorial Prayer

Creator of all,
Source and shelter,
Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace
To those who perished in the Holocaust,
Our fathers and mothers,
Our sisters and brothers,
Our rabbis and teachers,
Our neighbors and children,
The named and the unnamed,
Whose lives were cut off by
Brutal, vicious, cunning and calculated violence.
May they find peace in the world to come.
Remember the survivors who have since passed away,
And the virtues of our people
Who’ve died at the hand of malice
In every generation.
We remember the works of their hands
And the messages of their hearts.
Bless the defenders of Israel with safety and strength,
And the righteous of all nations who provide
Protection, shelter and comfort to the Jewish people.
Let their deeds be a source of favor in heaven
And healing on earth.
Put an end to anger, hatred and fear
And lead us to a time
When no one will suffer at the hand of another,
Speedily, in our days.
May the memories of all who faced these horrors
Be sanctified with joy and love.
May their souls be bound up in the bond of life,
A living blessing in our midst.

© 2012 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com.

This is the centerpiece of a six-prayer Yom HaShoah liturgy.
This prayer appears in Alden’s new book:
Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.