kinah for the Earth, "Al eleh anu bokhim", from neohasid

[David Seidenberg]

There are many traditional sources that teach that the Earth is the great Temple which the Jerusalem Temple is modeled upon. That’s why eating without a brakhah (blessing) is called me’ilah rather than g’neivah, stealing from the sacred, rather than just regular stealing (Brakhot 35a). That means that Tisha B'Av is another Jewish observance with deep Earth connections. Neohasid.org's translation of Eikhah/Laments includes more teachings about this (neohasid.org/resources/laments/). It also includes a one-page kinah for the Earth based on "Al eleh anu bokhim" ("For these we weep"). You can also download the kinah separately ~ the link is https://neohasid.org/docs/AlEleh.pdf or neohasid.org/docs/AlEleh.doc. 

Here is the text of the kinah. The stanza that most directly touches on the experience we have been having in North America this summer is this: "For violent storms and the fires, and for the forest sanctuaries lost ~ Al eleh anu bokhot".

May the new moon of Av bring insight and correction,

David Seidenberg

"Al eleh anu bokhim, anu bokhot"

For the Amazon, the lungs of
the world,
and for the greed that goads
people to burn the jungles

Al eleh anu bokhim

For the ocean’s rising acidity,
and for the heat that bleaches
wondrous corals
Al eleh anu bokhot

For Redwoods clearcut
and for their multitudes of
species that have lost their
homes 

Al eleh anu bokhim

For plastic found in deepest
ocean and upon highest
mountain,
and for a throwaway culture
that devalues everything in our
lives
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the murder of elephants,
rhinos, pangolins,
and for the retribution their
extinction must deserve
Al eleh anu bokhim

For the birds and insects gone
silent,
and for the starlight smothered
by our lights
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the generations whose
home we are ruining,
and for the generation that
knows this but doesn’t change
course
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the Antarctica glaciers and
the polar ice caps,
and for the penguins and polar
bears endangered
Al eleh anu bokhim

For snowpack and glaciers
everywhere,
and for the billions whose cities
will be drowned, and whose
farms will have no water
Al eleh anu bokhim

For drought drying forests and
expanding deserts,
and for desert habitats
shrinking from before human
development, and for the
Saharah cheetah, the fringe-toed
lizard, and the addax
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the undiscovered species
whose lives we will never
know,
and for the loss of wisdom,
truth and beauty each one
embodies on this planet
Al eleh anu bokhim

For the billions of animals
living lives of torture to satisfy
human gluttony,
and for the pandemics and
plagues that can spread from
them to humanity
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the untold losses and
annihilations suffered by the
creatures of the Earth,
and for the ignorance that sees
not, and the callous hearts not
broken
Al eleh anu bokhim

For the wicked who prosper
from war, homelessness,
poverty, and from the land’s
ruin,
and for the horror they bring on
all of us, while they shelter in
their mansions
– Alas, how long will they
prosper?
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the governments refusing
to act,
and for the leaders who thwart
and reverse policies that would
save species, habitats,
ecosystems,
Al eleh anu bokhim

For violent storms and the
fires, and for the forest
sanctuaries lost
Al eleh anu bokhot

For a world suspended in the
nothingness of space,
and for the anxiety we live in,
imagining this refuge lost
Al eleh anu bokhim

For our own sore hearts, living
in a world of wounds,
and for our children and
generations to come, for their
fears and their hopes for a
better world
Al eleh anu bokhot

For the wounding of God’s
works, and for the wounding of
God’s image,
Al eleh anu bokhim

For the Breath of Life,
desecrated, destroyed, defiled!
Can You hear us, can You save
us from ourselves?
Al eleh anu bokhot, for these
we cry

Teach us to care, teach us to sit
still, to understand, for the time
is late.
Impel us to act, participate,
triumph, at least enough, lest
there be no one left to cry