The Nazi’s goal was
Annihilation of Jews
It’s not the first time
Many, many times
Jews have faced abject terror
Life has been on edge
In and near Russia
Pogroms were unleashed
Millions were murdered
Genocides were tried
Throughout Jewish history
Never succeeded
Egyptians told by
Pharaoh to toss first born boys
Into Nile river
In Roman times it
Was against the law for Jews
To teach the Torah
Haman’s aim nothing
Short of elimination
Of every Jew
Isabella said
Convert, leave Spain, or you die
The inquisition
Time after time the
Woes of the world were placed at
Our feet it’s your fault
We were an easy
Target a rallying point
Our lives in danger
With all that we faced
How did we manage to live
For millennia
Our lives embittered
What lessons were we taught as
There must be something
Were we taught to seek
Retribution, NO, quite the
Contrary, what then
Were we taught to hold
Grudges, NO, that’s not justice
So again, what then
The Torah’s a good
Starting point and there’s much more
Generations more
Moses was the start
He passed God’s Law onto us
Through sage after sage
Study the Mitzvot
Week to week, year upon year
Make reasoned choices
Your words and your thoughts
Add value to those of theirs
As do theirs to yours
Hillel and Shammai
Learned from the sages and then
Offered their wisdom
Hillel has taught us
Loving and pursuing peace
Are goals for mankind
The absence of peace
Ultimately is conflict
But it's a spectrum
No two entities
Can agree on everything
Save to strive for peace
Hillel said if I'm
Not for myself, who will be;
Who will be for me?
Hillel continues
But when I'm just for myself
Indeed what am I?
Concluding Hillel
Goes on, and if not now when?
Take heed, be measured
Also, Hillel said
When asked to summarize the
Teachings of the Jews
Don't do to others
Things that are hateful to you
That's basic, study
That’s the whole Torah
Hillel said, the rest is commentary
That’s the lesson NOW
We stand with Hillel
We support Black Lives Matter
And for equal pay
And for low-cost housing
And for access to voting
And for living wage
When we see hateful
Acts and hateful policies
Work to overcome
Work just as hard to
Not be the ones that decree
A hateful action
Today, right now, we
Are faced with terrorists who
Brought us hateful acts
It is incumbent
That we take the steps needed
To end the terror
But we must temper
Our actions with wise choices
Don’t be too hasty
It has been said to
Destroy all the terrorists
All, that’s fantasy
We thought that we had
Them contained, bottled up tight
We were just plain wrong
We restricted their
Movement; we monitored their
Communications
We took properties from
Them without compensation
Destroying their dreams
We thought that these acts
Were enough to stifle them
But that was not true
We were trying to
Destroy their dreams; delusion
It cannot be done
Our actions were based
On false assumptions and on
Arrogant thinking
Containment does not
Preclude thinking, planning, or
Imagination
They are not stupid
They are not less than we are
They are not lazy
If not the foe we’ve
“Identified” there would be
Another one formed
Dreams can’t be stifled
To try to do this, folly
Try another course
We’ve taken hateful
Approaches, it’s not too late
Let’s change our actions
First end the terror
By taking out the tools of
Their beastly actions
Then we must mourn the
Loss of life on both our sides
And properties too
Next we must meet to
Understand how both sides have
Suffered indignities
Set up policies
That open lanes of movement
Without suspicions
Provide the means for
Fair compensation for the
Lands and homes we lost
Allow all to choose
Governments if they promote
Fairness and justice
No matter what we
Jews do at this terrible
Time, remember this
Don't do to others
Things that are hateful to you
That's basic, study
That’s the whole Torah
Hillel said, the rest is commentary
That’s the lesson NOW
