January 2026 Doorpost Article, December 30, 2025
Written by Interim Rabbi Rosalind Glazer
This past Sunday began with our community embracing a bereaved family bidding farewell to their beloved patriarch and concluded with our annual LatkePalooza with kids and families playing, singing and squealing with joy. Meanwhile, our hearts grew heavy with news of the horrific Bondi Beach attack on the Jewish Community in Sydney, Australia.
In the morning, I received a message of support from a Christian colleague. “I imagine this lands heavily for you and for your community, even from far away, and I am so sorry. I want you to know that I am holding you, your congregation, and the wider Jewish community in my thoughts. If there is any way I can be supportive right now, for you or for the temple community…I just didn’t want this moment to pass without reaching out.”
I then spent the bulk of the day reaching out to friends and colleagues who might have been personally impacted by the attack. I learned of the hospitalized brother-in-law of one rabbinic colleague and the friend of an Australian Israeli who was injured. And I also learned that the grandchildren of another rabbinic colleague who live a few blocks away were rattled to their core. In grief and disbelief, I was reminded that there really are no degrees of separation. Even as we and our loved ones are spared from physical harm, we are shaken deeply and struggle not to see ourselves as victims. But how do we do this?
Years ago, when I was invited to co-lead an Ecumenical Thanksgiving service, I learned that ecumenism is specific to Christian denominations who seek reconciliation despite theological differences. While this is an admirable endeavor, the word Interfaith better describes gatherings of those who practice different religions and it is a powerful path to healing the insipid social disease of xenophobia.
This year, as in years past, Temple Israel participated in a beautiful Interfaith Thanksgiving service led by a group of local women clergy from the Seacoast Ministerium. Hosted by our Unitarian Universalist neighbors at the North Church, our chosen theme was “Cultivating Compassion in Community,” which is desperately needed in these trying times.
Growing up in the US, my favorite national holidays were Thanksgiving and MLK day because I saw these as celebrating the diversity that so fundamental to this great country’s success. While I came to learn that our lived reality is painfully complex, I still treasure these national holidays.
This year while serving as interim rabbi of Temple Israel, I proudly chose to join the Ministerium, which is comprised primarily of Christian denominations. I was honored to share the leadership and also understandably a bit daunted to be the representative of “the Jews.” So I was relieved when several of TIP members entered the large sanctuary and joined the service very humble attendance. I was moved by the magnificent space, by the echo of soothing music, a simple candle-lighting ritual and each clergy member’s words. They shared how their communities have worked to care for them, for one another in their times of need, and for strangers and refugees of all kinds.
As my first such event in Portsmouth and when when acts of hatred and anti-Semitism are painfully on the rise, I deliberated on what to share. In the end I chose to recite a psalm of thanksgiving, Psalm 138, Hodu l’Adonai ki tov, ki l’olam chasdo, along with a favorite teaching from Talmud often quoted during the season of Teshuva. I also taught a kirtan-style chant to the God of Compassion, HaRachaman.
In BT Berakhot 7a-b our Sages claim that God also recites prayers. Really? Isaiah 56:7 is the prooftext saying, “I will bring them to My holy mountain, and make rejoice in the house of My prayer.” The verse does not say “in the house of THEIR prayer,” but rather,” in the house of MY prayer.” And so it is accepted that the Holy One, in fact does pray. Then, “For what does God pray and to whom does God pray? The Sages respond that God prays, “May it be My will that My mercy overcome My anger, and that My mercy prevail over My wrath so that I show restraint and treat My creatures with compassion.”
As we are created in God’s image, b’Tzelem Elohim, for God’s compassion to prevail, we must also work for it. Commentaries on the Talmudic passage hold that God’s prayer is a yearning that all humans turn wholeheartedly to break cycles of violence and transgression. This means showing up proudly as Jews in multi-faith and culturally diverse spaces. It requires quieting our inner voices to listen to and hear one another. It means doing the hard work to temper our anger and suspicion to reach out across our differences. In deliberately and consistently taking these steps, even in difficult times, God’s compassion can prevail over God’s strict judgment, and we will be worthy to enjoy God’s bountiful blessings.
