{"id":18914,"date":"2020-06-09T18:40:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T22:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phpstack-508129-1620562.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=18914"},"modified":"2022-01-12T16:38:13","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T21:38:13","slug":"unetaneh-tokef-for-black-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/2020\/06\/unetaneh-tokef-for-black-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Friday would\u2019ve been the 65th<\/sup> birthday of my first wife and her yahrzeit is this week. As I thought about the beauty of her laugh and the pain of her end, so different from those on whose behalf we cry out, the words of the Unetaneh Tokef<\/em>\u2014a prayer that inspires fear and awe during the High Holidays\u2014came to me.<\/p>\n

Both the Unetaneh Toke<\/em>f and the impact of this list of killings of Black Americans<\/a> (compiled by an unknown community member) inspired \u201cUnetaneh Tokef for Black Lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Each day we hazard our Black lives in the Court of the White World<\/p>\n

We know our worth<\/p>\n

Yet the white world is judge-self-appointed<\/p>\n

We pass before you to be counted<\/p>\n

12.5 million bodies stolen<\/p>\n

1.8 million mercifully avoided your shores<\/p>\n

Stolen shores, stolen land<\/p>\n

10.7 million arrived unsafely<\/p>\n

…times 401 years<\/p>\n

…times infinite human indignities<\/p>\n

…times \u2157 of a human being<\/p>\n

We now number 47.8 million<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the morning it is written and by curfew it is sealed<\/p>\n

Who shall die while jogging (#AhmaudArbery)<\/p>\n

Who shall die while relaxing in the comfort of their home (#BothamJean #AtatianaJefferson)<\/p>\n

Who shall die while seeking help after a car crash (#JonathanFerrell #RenishaMcBride).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while holding a cellphone (#StephonClark).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while decorating for a party (#ClaudeReese).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while leaving a party (#JordanEdwards #SeanBell)<\/p>\n

Who shall die while enjoying music (#JordanDavis).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while selling music…trying to make a way outta no way (#AltonSterling).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while sleeping (#AiyanaJones)<\/p>\n

Who shall die while worshipping the Lord (#Charleston9).<\/p>\n

Who shall die for a traffic violation (#SandraBland).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while coming from the store (#MikeBrown and #TrayvonMartin).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while playing cops and robbers (#TamirRice).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while lawfully carrying a weapon (#PhilandoCastile, #FreddieGray).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while on the shoulder of the road with car problems (#CoreyJones #TerrenceCrutcher).<\/p>\n

Who shall die in the first hours of the new year (#OscarGrant)<\/p>\n

Who shall die while shopping at Walmart (#JohnCrawford).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while cashing a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while reading a book in their own car (#KeithScott).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while taking a walk with their stepfather (#CliffordGlover).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while reaching for their wallet (#AmadouDiallo).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while running away (#WalterScott).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while asking a cop a question (#RandyEvans).<\/p>\n

Who shall die while begging for their life, their breath (#EricGarner #GeorgeFloyd).<\/p>\n

Who shall die by the effects of supremacy, greed, and apathy<\/p>\n

…who by beast, indeed<\/p>\n

\u201cBut repentance, prayer and charity temper judgment\u2019s severe decree\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut repentance, prayer and charity avert judgment\u2019s severe decree?”<\/p>\n

But turning<\/i>, connection<\/i> and giving,<\/i> these return us to our Gd?<\/p>\n

Whose repentance? Whose prayer? Whose charity?<\/p>\n

Temper, please temper<\/p>\n

Temper already! Temper\u2026<\/p>\n

For sins against God, the Day of Atonement brings forgiveness; for sins against one\u2019s fellowman, the Day of Atonement brings no forgiveness till he has become reconciled with the fellowman he wronged. (Mishnah Yoma 8:9)<\/em><\/p>\n

“The Day of Atonement brings no forgiveness<\/p>\n

till he has become reconciled with the fellowman he wronged.\u201d<\/p>\n

When will you atone? How will you atone?<\/p>\n

For you, like us, will be judged.<\/p>\n

You, like us, will return to dust.<\/p>\n

\n

Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman<\/a> is one of the co-founders of Romney Associates, Inc. She has more than 25 years of experience organizing, educating, and developing curriculum for social justice. Her writing about racial intimacy and anti-racism at her Brooklyn synagogue can be found in the chapter she co-authored in UnCommon Bonds: Women Reflect on Race and Friendship (Peter Lang). <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A rewriting of Unetaneh Tokef in honor of the Black Lives that have been lost to racist violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":18915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1979,403,1968,118,278,215,1969,273,274,740,1970,1978],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/16014096015_d3cdf36229_o-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdW3k2-4V4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18914"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22572,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18914\/revisions\/22572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phpstack-562680-2277615.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}