“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel
We have taken you for granted for far too long
Walking along dirt paths of forests lined by rocks, minerals, moss, grass, flowers, and trees
The wind whispering among the leaves enchanted secrets that only we were meant to hear
Deforesting you naked and bare, vulnerable to engulfing infernos, leaving wildlife homeless
The land has declared itself off limits, the surviving areas scorched and desolate
Ashamnu; Bagadnu; Gazalnu; Dibarnu dofi
We have taken you for granted for far too long
Leaving wet footprints and sandcastles along shorelines decorated with shells and coral, seaweed, and starfish
The roar and rush of the waves echoing in conch shells, in our ears, in our minds
Relentlessly drilling offshore and overfishing, polluting with plastic and garbage and oil spills so taxing our seas that they are starting to simmer like kettles, rising up and spilling over in rebellion
He’evinu; V’hirshanu; Zadnu; Hamasnu; Tafalnu sheker
We have taken you for granted for far too long
Admiring the grandeur of your canyons, the majesty of your mountains, drinking in the blue of the sky and the cotton candy clouds
Planting and harvesting in the rich chocolate soil, fruits and vegetables filling our cornucopia and our bellies
Dependent on pesticides rather than pollinating bees
Relying on fracking, rationalizing seismic activity as a means to an end
Yaatsnu ra; Kizavnu; Latsnu; Maradnu; Niatsnu;
Sararnu; Avinu; Pashanu; Tsararnu; Kishinu oref
We have taken you for granted for far too long
Four entered the Pardes; will any emerge this time around?
Climate change became climate crisis is becoming climate catastrophe
Blistering sunburnt skin and numb frostbitten digits
Volcanic lava river flow and polar vortex ice storm
Punishment for our collective Merkava experience
Trespassing where we were not meant to go
Playing God with what did not belong to us
Rashanu; Shichatnu; Tiavnu; Tainu; Titanu
Anachnu / We
Make Teshuvah to Planet Earth
While
Anachnu / We
Still Can
5787 — Time for Radical Teshuvah
The Planet
Anachnu/We
Save
M̵a̵y̵ ̵B̵e̵ Is
Still
Shelanu/Our
Home
ChaiMo (Marc Howard Landas / Chaim Moshe haLevi) is a full-time K-12 educator at a New York City public school located within Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. He teaches English language arts and visual and performing arts, supporting students with emotional and mental health needs, learning differences, and related challenges. In addition to his teaching, ChaiMo is a part-time rabbinical student at the Academy for Jewish Religion (ajr.edu) and serves as the primary caregiver for two octogenarians. His hobbies include camera-phone photography, collecting Jewish books and Judaica, communing with nature, LGBTIQA+ issues, making found-object art, show tunes, swimming, thrifting, and travel.
105 Hudson Road, Sudbury, MA 01776
(978) 443-9622|Email Us
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