Over the past few weeks, our community shared multiple occasions when our children led us in prayer. Singing has always been my main pathway to prayer, but listening to our learned children skillfully lead us in worship has become equally as connective for me. From the beautiful Passover performance by our third graders (including an unparalleled Israeli rendition of “Am Yisrael Chai”) to hearing our elementary students and teens teach and chant Torah at our Passover morning service, to the extraordinary leading of the Four Questions at our community Second Night Seder, the youth of our Wise community are skilled in song. It is an absolute privilege and joy to listen to them lead our community in prayer and to learn from them.

I don’t for one minute take for granted the benefit of being able to connect to prayer. These past almost seven months have been a living nightmare of war, and fear can certainly cause us to close our hearts to prayer and other pathways of connection. But I have to tell you that nothing in the world makes me feel more hope than praying with our community. When we lift our voices in song together, we create a network of strength, joy, and meaning together. Whether praying in person on our campus or connecting to our worship from home, I hope that you experience that same powerful connection.

I love this alternative prayer from our siddur, Mishkan T’filah, that we use on Shabbat and festivals. I pray that you will also find inspiration from these words and that you will make an effort to join us in worship and song as soon and as often as you can.

— Cantor Emma Lutz

I begin with a prayer of gratitude for all that is holy in my life.
God needs no words, no English or Hebrew, no semantics or services.
But I need them.
Through prayer, I can sense my inner strength, my inner purpose,
My inner joy, my capacity to love.
As I reach upward in prayer, I sense these qualities in my Creator.
To love God is to love each other, to work to make our lives better.
To love God is to love the world God created and to work to perfect it.
To love God is to love reams of peace and joy that illumine all of us, 
And to bring that vision to life. Amen.