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Day 10: Hope But Not Complacence

Today's reading reminds us that although our collective past has shaped us, it need not define us forever. The wickedness of slavery, the evil of racism, the anguish of dispossession of culture and lands, can be overcome. Past may be prologue, to borrow the words of the Scribe—but an intentional labor to rehabilitate our institutions, redefine our justice systems, and free ourselves from the yoke of systemic racism can lead to redemption.

Day 9: Praying and Singing in a Strange Land

Throughout human history the reviled, the vilified, the rejected, the weak, and the powerless have been able to depend on God alone for help. When religion and culture became an excuse for intolerance and hate, Jewish lives were lost in unprecedented numbers.

Day 8: Here I Am Lord, Send Me

Jonah comes to us as an important figure in salvation history. A reluctant God-bearer, his discernment process wailed in him through much inner turmoil. He was a good man—just unsure of himself, and who he was before God. After accepting the unrelenting call of the Lord, he laid down his armor of fear and doubt and picked up the armor of God. He was chosen and like many of those chosen as messengers, it took a while for him to realize that God had his back.