Elul Project 5782
אַתָּה נוֹתֵן יָד
You Extend a Hand
compiled by Isaac Sonett-Assor

Throughout the month of Elul, we invite you to take part in Temple Micah’s daily reflection as we explore the symbol of the outstretched hand. What are the forces that guide, sustain, and pull us? When do we find courage from within, and when do we lean on others?
Day 2
Today's Text: Don't Let Me Fall
By Kadya Molodowsky, translated from Yiddish by Kathryn Hellerstein
I.
Don’t let me fall
Like a stone that drops on the hard ground.
And don’t let my hands become dry
As the twigs of a tree
When the wind beats down the last leaves.
And when the storm rips dust from the earth
Angry and howling,
Don’t let me become the last fly
Trembling terrified on a windowpane.
Don’t let me fall.
I have so much prayer,
But, as a blade of Your grass in a distant, wild field
Loses a seed in the lap of the earth
And dies away,
Sow in me Your living breath,
As You sow a seed in the earth.
II.
I still don’t know whom,
I still don’t know why I ask.
A prayer lies bound in me,
And implores a god,
And implores a name.
I pray
In the field,
In the noise of the street,
Together with the wind, when it runs before my lips,
A prayer lies bound in me,
And implores a god,
And implores a name.
III.
I lie on the earth,
I kneel
In the ring of my horizons,
And stretch my hands
With a prayer
To the west, when the sun sets,
To the east, when it rises there,
To each spark
That it show me the light
And make my eyes bright,
To each worm that glows in the darkness at night,
That it shall bring its wonder before my heart
And redeem the darkness that is enclosed in me.
Today's Question
Is there a seed—an idea, a hope, a prayer—that has been planted within you that you hope to nurture? What does it need to thrive this year?

We encourage you to share your thoughts in response to our daily question by emailing elul@templemicah.org as we will, once again, incorporate many of them in our Yom Kippur afternoon service with Liz Lerman.
Thank you for your participation!
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