“When I experience the fallibility of humanity

God will gather up all of my broken pieces” 

– Psalm 27, translation by Brielle Paige Rassler

Since the beginning of Elul, I’ve been reading Psalm 27 every day. Recently, the above translation of this psalm caught my attention. What does it mean to experience the fallibility of humanity? It’s an experience many of us who are LGBTQ+ or love those who are LGBTQ+ know all too well and continue to experience daily. We witness mistakes being made and harm being done to us, to those who look like us and hold similar identities, all the time. With each new piece of hateful legislation targeting trans folks, my heart breaks over and over. With each act of violence against queer folks, I break to pieces. This is what it is to be human, I remind myself, having a heart that’s capable of breaking.

And yet, this moment in Jewish time comes to remind us that God – or divinity, or the source that makes for salvation, or whatever you do or don’t believe in – is there to gather up the pieces. We find shelter under these wings, in these holy hugs. The High Holidays are a time of great returning, to ourselves, to our community, to our source of divinity. 

Whether the holidays are new to you or they are something you come to year after year, we have resources for you, including:

• Allyship as Teshuva
• Royalty of Elul
• Seven Steps to a Community of Equality and Belonging
• And so much more!

But we must not stop there. We get to gather up one another’s broken pieces, too. That’s the crucial work we do here at Keshet. Join us in responding to this moment and donate here to support Keshet’s ongoing work in the Jewish community.