A Prayer for This Moment

Braving subzero temperatures, more than 75,000 people marched in Minneapolis on January 23 to protest the federal government’s actions in their city. As part of that day’s rally at Target Center, entitled “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth & Freedom,” Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg from Shir Tikvah in Minneapolis delivered a benediction she wrote, “A Prayer for This Moment.”
 

Holy One — 
known by many names, 
felt in breath and courage, 
heard in the cry for justice — 
Be with us in this moment of becoming. 

I lift up the names of three neighbors. 
Victor Manuel Diaz,
abducted from his workplace on January 6th 
who died in ICE custody in Texas on January 14th. 

Renee Macklin Good, 
queer poet, wife, parent,
Murdered in South Minneapolis by ICE on January 7th
while observing an abduction in her neighborhood.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti,
Intensive care nurse, nature enthusiast, 
Murdered in South Minneapolis by ICE on January 24th
While attempting to protect neighbors.

May their memories be a blessing. 
May their families be comforted. 

Here’s what I know, beloveds:
Beneath this paramilitary invasion of our community, 
something new is growing. 

A civil society beneath this dangerous crust of ICE.

Underground healthcare 
because ICE is in the hospitals
hybrid schooling 
because ICE abducts parents, teachers, students
food distribution 
because ICE patrols our neighborhood stores. 
Neighbors bringing breast milk 
to babies whose mothers have been abducted. 

The scale and stakes of what we now create for one other 
are immense, impossible, and urgent 
And they confirm what we’ve always known: 

We need each other.

And:

together, we are irrepressible.

Holy One, in this time of rupture and change, 
we know we need more:

More creativity 
More experimentation 
New courage 
New alliances 
New possibilities

So let us imagine:

What songs will we sing when our breath is no longer being used to blow whistles on our street corners?

What joy-filled celebrations will we throw - the most epic of block parties - when we can all leave our houses, without fear?

What healing will our doctors offer,
what wisdom will our teachers teach,
what clarity will our children hold 
about the ways that we all belong to one another?

What will we create together when we are no longer fighting this culture of death?

Let us imagine using all of these beautiful skills
All of this powerful mutual aid
All of this fearless organizing
In a world without ICE.

To begin, we know this much: 
ICE must leave Minnesota. 
ICE must leave our communities in peace.

We must do everything in our power to make it so.

Holy One, make us a people who say yes and yes and yes to one another. 
Yes to widening the circle. 
Yes to shared responsibility. 
Yes to courage bigger than fear. 

This moment will take all of us.
 

View all reflections as we bear sacred witness to the devastation of ICE's takeover of Minnesota and the community's resilient organizing in response.