Instead of joy
And song
And cheer
We think to shed
A false veneer
Remove a snide
Remark or snear
And someone else
We strain
To hear
To treat a friend
A pal, a peer
With more respect
And more sincere
Have we
For them
Once said a prayer
In our hearts
Is there
A care?
The Torah lost
We mourn each year
Despite a rebbi’s
Voice so clear
Zeh klal gadol!
I ask
You hear?
What have you done
A soul to spare?
I mean not to be
So austere
And strike
Within you
Pain and fear
But have you
For those
Shed a tear?
Or accapela
Songs you hear
And that’s
The mourning
For this year?
In jails they sit
Sentenced severe
And no one seems
To want to spare
To mitigate
Perhaps to shear
The prison term
Even a year!
KAVOD!
My friend
LO NAHAGU!
You to me?
And me to you?
So let’s resolve
What we must do
To stand and shout
As one great Jew!
And if you ask
What we can do
Ke’ish echad
My friend, that’s who
Each person sees
A special way
Approach another Jew
And say
“Your pain, your hurt
I truly hear
As if it’s mine
Yes! Loud and clear”
And when we suddenly
Cohere
Reverberating
Loud and clear
The cry
“We’ll do!
And then…
“We’ll hear!”
