Sow Tears Today, Reap Joy Tomorrow.

Al Eleh Ani Bochiyah

For These Souls We Weep: Vigil of Hope

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun – 257 West 88th Street

On Saturday Night we stood together in the East Village to welcome the night of revelation and celebration. Lab/Shul joined with the 14th st Y, Downtown Jews and Congregation Beit Simchat Torah for Moonrise, our third annual Shavuot evening worship.

Gay and straight, old and young, Jewish and not, we celebrated the night not imagining that we would stand again the following evening at a vigil for our slain siblings in Orlando.

Naomi, Shira and I were honored to stand with Rabbi Kleinbaum and the CBST choir on the steps of the Judson Memorial Church, along with its clergy and many other faith leaders from across the city. We sang and stood in silence, cried and cried out for compassion, justice, healing and change. “Today we sow in tears, but one day we’ll reap in joy” I said to the gathered. Today we mourn but tomorrow we rise to be part of the healing and the transformation.

If anything was revealed this Shavuot it is that our call to action for justice, dignity, safety and equality for all persists and is vital. Violence and hatred are invoked daily in the name of religions and faith. It is against this hate that compels us to rise. Addressing fear based anti human progress voices, Abraham Lincoln spoke up:

“Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

TONIGHT we will stand again, as is our sacred duty, in memory of those killed and with a vow to the living. Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Romemu, SPSA and Lab/Shul will gather on the Upper West Side for a vigil of hope, bringing us all together at times when we need each other most. Please join us.