Rabbi Eve Posen

Every Friday night Cantor Bitton, my clergy partner, leads the prayer Hashkiveinu set to “Mad World” by Tears for Fears. I hear this echoing in my head anytime the world feels out of control. “Hashkiveinu l’shalo-om.” God, let us lie down in peace. This is the Torah I shared on Friday night in response to the mad world we live in.

This morning my 3.5-year-old son woke up and told me he had a nightmare about “a police officer putting his knee on the man’s neck.” Here are the things I took from this: we can no longer watch the news with our children, and I’m even more compelled to teach this Torah, to preach peace, justice, and mercy, and to work to end racism in our world.

Pasted below is the outline of my drash; hopefully audio or video will be available shortly. To paraphrase Hashkiveinu, may we be able to create a world where ALL PEOPLE can lie down in peace every night.