"Olam hesed yibaneh." The world will be built with lovingkindness.
I heard those words twice this week. On Sunday (Oct. 20) I heard them at Hoshana Rabbah services, the last day of Sukkot and the culmination of the Jewish "High Holy Days."
The words, from Psalm 89, can be translated, "Forever, your kindness is confirmed" or "The world will be built with kindness." On Hoshana Rabbah — "the great hosanna" — the words are recited as we finish the first of seven circuits around the synagogue, carrying willow branches that we beat on the floor as the crowning finish to our march.
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