Many of our families experience domestic violence, often in silence and shame. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month. This prayer was written to call attention to this issue and is meant to help bring healing to families experiencing domestic violence, and to let them know they are not alone. See updated version for 2020.
May the One who blessed our ancestors Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, provide protection, compassion, care and healing for all those who have known violence and abuse within their families.
May those who have been harmed find pathways to understanding and wholeness and those who have caused harm find their way to repentance and peace.
May our community be a source of support for those who have suffered in silence or shame. May those whose homes have become places of danger find their way to a sukkat shalom, a shelter of safety.
Amen
מי שברך אמותינו שרה, רבקה, לאה ורחל ואבותינו אברהם,יצחק ויעקב הוא יביא הגנה, רחמים,
טיפול ורפואה לכל אלה אשר סבלו מאלימות ודיכוי במשפחותיהם.
מי ייתן והנפגעים ימצאו דרך להבנה ושלמות והפוגעים ימצאו דרך לתשובה ושלום.
מי ייתן וקהילתנו תהא מקור תמיכה לאלה אשר סבלו בשקט ובכלימה. ואלהאשר בתיהם הפכו למקור סכנה ימצאו דרך לסוכת שלום, מקלט ביטחוןו שלווה.
ונאמר: אמן.
Published by the Clergy Task Force of Jewish Women International Sept. 2011/Elul 5771.
Thanks to Dr. Adina Newberg of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College for assistance with the Hebrew translation.
If you’d like to learn more about JWI’s work on domestic violence, please visit www.jwi.org.
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