BS”D

Dedicated in the sacred memory and to elevate the souls of all those slain al kiddush Hashem.

*******

The world is trembling on its pillars

Again shaken from its hazy slumber

Jolted back into reality

Again we’re sensitive to the pain

 

The news is too evil to absorb

Please, not another attack

Dear G-d, not another life lost

Another Holy Temple again razed to the ground

The earth soaked with innocent blood

 

In this Exile fog, time throws us for a loop

History repeats itself; are we doomed to never progress?

Partially aroused, we slip back into our daze

But we straddle two realms, the twilight zone

The dawn ever closer and more palpable

A new light burgeoning on the horizon

 

“Generations come and generations go”

The joy of renewal, even a child born

Cannot help but be infused with the bittersweet

Of past pain so keen, an ever-fresh wound reopened

The new name is announced at his Bris

The milestone of entry into an unbreakable Divine covenant

The tears sear when he’s called as his grandfather

Slaughtered in cold blood just days before

Yet the circle of life doesn’t cease to renew

He will forge on fearlessly with commitment and Jewish pride

 

Oh, Ari, Gabi and Rivky; Lori, Hallel and Ori

Eyal, Gilad and Naftali; then the Salomons and Fogels

Rabbi Moshe Goldshmid, Shliach to Hebron

Eliyahu Moskowitz, Bochur in Chicago

Hadar Goldin, brave Choyil of the Holy Land

The eleven holy souls congregated at Tree of Life

Our hearts bleed for you, dear siblings

Far too many more we’ve lost throughout the ages

Though I pray we never forget each one of your faces

 

Enduring slavery and Expulsion

Holocausts and Pogroms

Terrorism today on virtually every soil

Our continued existence fulfills the ancient promise

We grow stronger and multiply despite the travails

Testimony, it must be, to a greater, Divine design

Pausing, I look up to heaven and wonder

“Can one really count the stars?”

 

Each one fallen, a luminary shattered into a million pieces

Leaving a trail in its wake

The sparks descend, reach and catch one in your hands

Let its warmth touch your soul, inspire action and growth

Then watch it rise again, now restored

And its radiance unprecedented

 

You’ve been torn away so brutally

We grieve your loss, but also celebrate your life

Recall your strength and your kindness

Your quiet heroism and formidable deeds

The noble legacy of your great souls, so clear

Inspiring a revolution of unity, a return to truth

A resurgence of light, almost blinding

You were each a beacon where you were

You’re an ever-rising star

And your light now shines further than ever before

 

When a star dies, what of it remains?

A Nebula; an explosion of whirling chaos

But when the dust settles, the light shines through

From the ashes life is born again

A new star begins to rise from destruction

 

When the stardust clears

And G-d wipes away the tears

We will see you never truly disappeared

And your light was always shining