Yom Ha-Atzmaout

Your soul draws toward the Land.
A longing rises, memories unfurl,
primeval roots extending through the earth, through the centuries of time,
and you call to the name of God
El Brit,
God of Covenant


El Brit,
You with Whom my soul is bound,
aid and protect Your sweet Land
to which you guided my people.

Land of hope and Land of earth,
for thousands of years you've woven through the dreams of my ancestors.

I dream of you bathed in golden light.
You are old, yet youthful, luscious, promising, tempting, taunting me
to learn of your secrets, your hidden places.

Long ago my fore-bearers fell in love with you.
On your hills they sang love songs and grazed their flocks.
On your plains they built cities and gardens.
In your fields they wrote poems to you.

For thousands of years you came with us wherever we roamed.
We never forgot you, always sang of you,
seeing your golden stones and green hills, saying blessings over your fruits,
their scent perfuming our mornings and our nights.

My children, my youth lie in graves in your earth, and
my elders till the fields.
My blood is mixed with your soil while you live in the beating of my heart.
Each blade of grass that withers injures my soul
and my spirit croons over each tree that spreads its roots.

Rock and stone, barren and lush,
mountain and desert, rushing waterfalls and dried wadis,
your length and breath I have memorized,
they lie imprinted upon my heart.

Land of light and Land of shadow, Land of purity and Land of bones,
Land of soul and Land of blood, Land of despair and Land of hope.

I dream of peace, you echo with war.
Dream and horror, haven and terror, home, Promised Land.
You are mine, my soul is yours,
dream and nightmare, real and imagined.

Your earth tells stories of when the world was first born.
The gazelle still run as they did thousands of years ago.
Ah, how I love you.

I remember you veiled from ancient days when but a maiden.
I see your weary lined face now etched with tears and smiles.
I pray for you to find your way. I mourn each of your fallen.
I sing of your magic.

My ancient Promised Land, Land full of promise.
Land of earth and Land of dream.

El Brit,
One I have bound myself to in covenant,
protect your daughter and care for her,
for she is my heart and the light of my days.

El Brit, remember her and
bring her
Life.

© 2008