A nation so loved

A nation so hated

Our unique existence

Cannot be debated.

Torture and murder

Expulsions and more

Crusades and pogroms

SS guards at the door.

All kinds of torment

That man could devise

Were heaped on the Jews

Yet, we must realize

That despite all the horrors

And all the insanity

We, as a people

Never lost our humanity.

What other people

What other nation

Do acts of chesed

With such dedication?

Who else has a Shomrim

Misaskim, Hatzalah?

Who else has Chaveirim

And Hachnosas Kallah?

Who else has a Zaka

With volunteers in place

Whose pure noble goals

Include Kavod Hameis?

And what about Gemachs

A Jewish invention

To lend out what’s needed

Is their sole intention.

Rachmanim b’nei rachmanim

Defines who we are

It’s part of our essence

It’s carried us far.

From birth until death

We are part of a whole

We connect to each other

Through our spirit and soul.

We have our shortcomings

And we have have faults as well

But one thing is for certain

Mi K’amcha Yisrael!!!!!

May our acts of chesed serve as a zechus for refuos and yeshuos for all of Klal Yisrael.

Mimi Gardenswartz lives in Passaic.