Peace in our Rampart

This year I have had the honor of interning at Woodlands Community Temple. For our Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services we write "iyyunim," introductions to set an intention for a given prayer. Each week we have a theme that all of the iyyunim tie back to. This past Friday, we spoke about Memorial Day. My Senior Rabbi, Billy Dreskin, really liked the iyyun I gave before the Silent Prayer, so I thought I would publish it here. I hope you have a meaningful Memorial Day and have the time to reflect on lives lost in conflict and hope for a world where we no longer know the violence and pain of war.

Here's the iyyun:

Just yesterday, there was an article in the Times talking about US servicemen and women returning from doing relief work in Nepal. They delivered over 110 tons of supplies, evacuated and transported almost 600 people.

This is not something new. In recent years our military has responded to crises in the Philippines, Japan, Haiti…

I find it inspiring that the military apparatus built for war and fighting can also be used in these crucial life-saving ways.

You know…I finished up my finals last week. The biggest project I had was to do an in-depth analysis of Psalm 122. I will save you from the intricacies of the biblical grammar, but I want to share one piece of learning that I will carry with me for a long time.

There is a line, popularized by a melody from Shlomo Carlebach:

יְהִי שָׁלוֹם בְּחֵילֵךְ שַׁלְוָה בְּאַרְמְנוֹתָיִךְ
May there be peace in your rampart, tranquility in your citadels.

Just like the potential of the American military, the psalmist prays that the citadel and rampart, parts of the city built for war and defense will know peace. The prayer for peace is not general, but specifically located in the parts of the city that could be seen as the engines and machines of war.

As I reflect on Memorial Day, I think of my immense gratitude for the servicemen and women who gave their lives in the name of our nation and our ideals. And I pray that the systems that they defended might someday only know peace.