What is the response when experiencing answered prayers? When our living hostages were released from Hamas’ tortures, it felt as if our prayers were answered.
You will often see congregants come to the bimah for an aliyah to the Torah as they “bench gomel.” This prayer occurs after surviving a car accident or illness, sometimes coming home after a long, difficult journey. The prayer translates as: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the world, who rewards the undeserving with goodness, and who has rewarded me with goodness.”
But I don’t want to pretend for a second that we are the ones who survived October 7th. Benching gomel doesn’t seem right.
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