Prayer on Behalf of Those Who Yearn to Return to Israel and Make Aliyah

 

Watch Yocheved Feibush singing this week's Parasha Prayer (for women only).

Parashat Va’Etchanan

Prayer on Behalf of Those Who Yearn to Return to Israel and Make Aliyah
 
Hashem, I feel like a fish separated from living waters.
Not only me, but also my husband, sons and daughters.
 
In the exile of the desert, I have lost my soul,
I have even forgotten my spiritual goal!
 
Part of my core is no longer alive.
Please Hashem when will you let it revive?
 
O how I long to return to the land of Your light,
where the sky is so blue, and the sun is so bright!
 
In the land of Israel, my soul feels at home.
Not so in the lands of the cathedral dome.
 
I yearn to swap the desert sand for fertile loam.
Let me like a mountain goat in the mountains roam!
 
In the heart of Tzion my soul journey can begin.
In Judea, I breathe the Divine Spirit within.
 
I can feel Your caress from the rocks of the Wall,
answering my prayer softly when I try to call.
 
From the heights of holiness why must I fall?
Since leaving the land, I am missing it all!
 
I feel stuck in the muck, caught in the family net.
Thirsting for living waters for my feet to get wet.
 
Help raise me up, connect my head to my feet!
Let me taste the Torah of the land so sweet!
 
Here in the tasteless exile, I feel so incomplete,
Help me get away and to the Promised Land retreat!
 
Here I want to settle down in my permanent seat!
learning to once again hear my deepest heartbeat!
 
Please throw me a rope to get out of the sand!
Raise me up and fly me to Your Holy Land! 

Based on Devarim Chapter 3 verse 3:23-27

ספר דברים פרק ג פסוק כג וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל הָשֵׁם בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר: (כד) הָשֵׁם אֶלוֹקִים אַתָּה הַחִלּוֹתָ לְהַרְאוֹת אֶת עַבְדְּךָ אֶת גָּדְלְךָ אֶת יָדְךָ הַחֲזָקָה אֲשֶׁר מִי אֵל בַּשָּׁמַיִם וּבָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה כְמַעֲשֶׂיךָ וְכִגְבוּרֹתֶךָ:

(כה) אֶעְבְּרָה נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן הָהָר הַטּוֹב הַזֶּה וְהַלְּבָנֹן:

(כו) וַיִּתְעַבֵּר הָשֵׁם בִּי לְמַעַנְכֶם וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֵלָי וַיֹּאמֶר יְדֹוָד אֵלַי רַב לָךְ אַל תּוֹסֶף דַּבֵּר אֵלַי עוֹד בַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה:

(כז) עֲלֵה רֹאשׁ הַפִּסְגָּה וְשָׂא עֵינֶיךָ יָמָּה וְצָפֹנָה וְתֵימָנָה וּמִזְרָחָה וּרְאֵה בְעֵינֶיךָ כִּי לֹא תַעֲבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה:

“I entreated Hashem at that time, saying, ‘O Hashem G-d, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand, for who is [like] G-d in heaven or on earth who can do as Your deeds and Your might? Please let me cross over and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and the Levanon.’ But Hashem was angry with me because of you, and He did not listen to me, and Hashem said to me, ‘It is enough for you; speak to Me no more regarding this matter. Go up to the top of the hill and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and see with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan’” (Devarim 3:23-27).