A Prayer for When Children are Forcibly Separated from Parents

A Prayer for When Children are Forcibly Separated from Parents

By Rabbi Paul Kipnes Pray for the children The ones who were taken away And pray for the leaders Whose moral compasses have gone astray Pray for the kids Who wallow in their cages And pray for the guards Whose work sullies their wages Pray for the dads Who are now childless and under arrest And pray for the moms Whose kids were ripped right from their breasts Pray for the parents Away from their children day and night And pray for our government Which desperately needs to see the light Pray for the religious Whose values others erroneously claim To justify pulling children from their parents But really, they just profane God’s name Pray for the people Who avert their eyes from this travesty And pray for government Which employs this immoral strategy But mostly, Pray for the children Created b’tzelem Elohim* And pray for us all As we all suffer the wretched parts of the American dream   * B’tzelem Elohim = created in God’s image Read: 26 Jewish organizations declare: Families belong together!