“We stand with Melbourne”
A poem by Rabbi Nicole Roberts
Rabbi Nicole Roberts
The only thing that should burn in a synagogue
are candles,
the lights which see us in and out of sacred time:
Candles for Shabbat
Candles for Havdalah
Candles for Chanukah
Candles for yahrzeit.
The only heat one should feel in a shul
Is that which sees you through the hardest times:
The warmth of the person next to you,
Or the fire in your belly,
A passion for justice,
And the God who loves it.
But the cries – they should be heard everywhere
Inside and out of this place, uncontained:
Cry for your brothers,
Cry for your sisters,
Cry for protection,
Cry out in prayer, in print, and in person.
And memory, too – that should happen everywhere,
Lest we forget:
The burning doorknob,
Hot to the touch,
The sanctuary
Now a shell.
The outcry must spread, fast as flame.
Because crime has no place
Within our walls.
This flame—the ire and the fire…
This hate
Has overstepped
Its bounds.
Rabbi Nicole K. Roberts
Senior Rabbi, North Shore Temple Emanuel, Chatswood NSW
7 December 2024 / 6 Kislev 5785
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