When the world is upside down,

I/Me/Us/We must flip the script:

Grab hold of the narrative,

revolt against the same old story,

resist the riptide of history

despite grim odds,

the plot twist brought

to untwist this plot.

Thus begins every

inner rebellion.

I/Me/Us/We enter

the cold wetness

of the cave

made of echo-stone

to retrieve the oil

hidden in secret

and Maccabean shadow-folds

for generations.

When the world is upside down,

I/Me/Us/We must flip the script:

Watch the exalted letters

dance into all possible combinations,

account for every permutation,

precisely as numerous

as each luminous star

in the numinous field

of our milky and honeyed galaxy.

I/Me/Us/We reclaim our sovereignty

over the landscape

of our heavenly body,

shore up our borders,

draw constellations as boundaries,

rededicate the sacred space

in the center of us,

sanctify the nourishment

of moon and sun.

Let us rise elemental,

offer our/self as vessel,

four mothers to the left,

four angels to the right,

we long to be anointed, filled with

hyssop and frankincense,

spikenard and myrrh,

balsam and cassia,

jasmine and rose,

holy olive.

Pour in the gloaming

moment of every tiny brave blaze

thrown in stark relief

against the gift

of mysterious darkness.

By Truah: A Rabbinic Call to Action

May it be Your will, at this season of our election, to guide us towards peace.

By voting, we commit to being full members of society, to accepting our individual responsibility for the good of the whole. May we place over ourselves officials in all our gates…who will judge the people with righteousness (Deut 16:18), and may we all merit to be counted among those who work faithfully for the public good.

Open our eyes to see the image of God in all candidates and elected officials, and may they see the image of God in all citizens of the earth.

Grant us the courage to fulfill the mitzvah of loving our neighbors as ourselves, and place in our hearts the wisdom to understand those who do not share our views.

As we pray on the High Holidays, “May we become a united society, fulfilling the divine purpose with a whole heart.”

And as the Psalmist sang, “May there be shalom within your walls, peace in your strongholds. For the sake of my brothers and sisters and friends, I will speak peace to you.” (Ps. 122:7-8)

By David Seidenberg

With my vote today I am prepared and intending to seek peace for this country, as it is written:

“Seek out the peace of the city where I cause you to roam and pray for her sake to God, for in her peace you all will have peace.”

May it be Your will that votes will be counted faithfully and may You account my vote as if I had fulfilled this verse with all my power.

May it be good in Your eyes to give a wise heart to whomever we elect today and may You raise for us a government whose rule is for good and blessing to bring justice and peace to all the inhabitants of the world and to Jerusalem, for rulership is Yours!

Just as I participated in elections today so may I merit to do good deeds and repair the world with all my actions, and with the act of [fill in your pledge] which I pledge to do today on behalf of all living creatures and in remembrance of the covenant of Noah’s waters to protect and to not destroy the earth and her plenitude.

May You give to all the peoples of this country, the strength and will to pursue righteousness and to seek peace as unified force in order to cause to flourish, throughout the world, good life and peace and may You fulfill for us the verse:

“May the pleasure of Adonai our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us, may the work of our hands endure.”