Rabbi 360

This is my interpretation of the traditional Yom Kippur martyrology. Moving away from specific individuals and the idea of martyrdom, this liturgy brings to mind all those who have died under unjust circumstances.

אֵלֶּה אֶזְכְּרָה וְנַפְשִׁי עָלַי אֶשְׁפְּכָה
Eleh ezkerah venafshi alay eshpechah.
These I will remember and pour out my soul.

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I will remember all of Am Yisra’el
From the past unto this day
Killed by sword or gas,
Or gunshot or flame.
In captivity and camps,
In homes and havens,
Due to hatred and prejudice
And the denial of the right to exist.

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I will remember all other peoples
Targeted and repressed
Slain for who they were:
Their heritage, their ideas,
Their love, their God.
Seen as less than human,
As problems to be solved
Rather than lives to be redeemed.

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I will remember all those who fell
While defending people, territory, and nation,
Either by choice or by conscription.
In service to ideals and survival,
Something greater than themselves.

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I will remember all those cut down
For lifting fist and voice in protest.
Whose signs and chants and truths
Were brutally drowned out and silenced.

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I will remember all those forced to escape
And seek refuge and opportunity
In a new home not their own.
Who perished enroute over land or sea
Or upon arrival in a strange land.

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I will remember all those marched off in shackles
Having been chased and captured and sold.
Seen not as people but property
Whose lives were devalued,
Labor used and love ignored
Who succumbed to chains and the whip.

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I will remember all those upon whose land we dwell
Cleared and colonized, missing and murdered.
Forced to move, march, and resettle.
Victims of violence against body and language,
Against tribe, culture and history.

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I will remember all those who died
By neglect or negligence
By policy or police
By occupation or oppression
By abuse or apathy
By plague or persecution
By government or greed
By bomb or blockade
By exposure or exploitation
By climate or catastrophe

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I will remember those whose divine light
Went unseen
Was snuffed out
Was unable to shine in the first place.

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I will remember the named and nameless
The known and unknown
And those who have no one to remember them.

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אֵלֶּה אֶזְכְּרָה וְנַפְשִׁי עָלַי אֶשְׁפְּכָה
Eleh ezkerah venafshi alay eshpechah.
These I will remember and pour out my soul.