EXTENDING REPENTANCE TO THE MORE THAN HUMAN COMMUNITY
I make an adjustment in my morning practice during the month of Elul. One of the morning blessings that we recite every day if we have this practice is a blessing for community. This is the beginning of the Mah Tovu prayer, taking the words of Balaam, the non Israelite prophet who praised the community of Israel (Numbers 24:5). The traditional translation is something like “How goodly are your tents o Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel” although “dwelling places” is the same word the sacred tabernacle that houses the divine.
I wrote a prayer to extend our desire for repentance and atonement to the more than human world. During Elul we traditionally repent of our sins against the divine and against other humans. I want to extend this to the more than human world. I would encourage you to write your own. I’ve included my own just to give you some idea of what might be possible
• S’lach li v S’lach lanu, forgive me, forgive us, for Chatanu, for we have sinned. Kaper li, Kaper lanu, grant me atonement, grant us atonement, for all that we have done wrong to you.
• I stand here before you, all of us creatures in a beautiful world. I am one of you. I have a different body and different abilities. I cannot grow as tall as the trees over my head, I cannot fly through the sky like the birds in front of me, I cannot chew acorns like the squirrels who live in these woods. Unfortunately for all of us, I have the power to disrupt this beautiful system, the ability to wreck the dynamic balance that is your birthright. S’lach li v S’lach lanu, forgive me, forgive us, for Chatanu, for we have sinned.
• Our ability to disrupt the whole is a uniquely human power that has been routinely abused. You all have been the victims of it. I stand here to apologize and to bear witness to the grief of all that my kind has destroyed. I cannot promise to do better, and in truth, I have no idea how to heal suburban land. So all I can do is weep with you and bear witness. Kaper li, Kaper lanu, grant me atonement, grant us atonement, for all that we have done wrong to you.
