A Prayer of Peace for the People of Ukraine

God, Our hearts are with all the people of Ukraine,
Its president, Volodymyr Zelensky,
And with our Jewish brothers and sisters in Ukraine
200,000 souls
Who crouch in fear
As the sound of sirens and bombs pierces the air.
Synagogues once filled with songs of celebration
Have become makeshift shelters.
Echos of the Holocaust reverberate,
The memory of the one-and-a-half million
Martyred Ukrainian Jews.

God, we pray that the panic in the streets of Ukraine
Will give way to the sound of children playing,
And the sound of sirens will give way to songs of hope.
We pray that the world community will unite
And cause the Russian army to retreat.
We pray for no more violence
Or bloodshed
And we pray that diplomacy
Will be the path to peace.

Hear our prayers, God,
Hear the prayers of the mothers and fathers,
the prayers of the children
longing for safety.
God, our Shelter,
Bring peace.
Let it rain down from the heavens like a mighty storm.
Let it wash away all hatred and bloodshed.
Peace, God. Please, God. Amen.

Rabbi Naomi Levy is founder of Nashuva and author of “Einstein and the Rabbi.”