Hate Has No Place Here

Originally written June 1, 2025, after the Boulder, Colorado attack; revised in mourning for the recent killings and in remembrance of some past attacks as Jews prepare for Hanukkah

Bondi Beach, Australia Dec. 14, 2025 -15
Brown University, Rhode Island Dec. 13, 2025 – 2
Pittsburgh, Pa – October 27, 2018 – 11
Manchester, England, October 2, 2025 – 2
Boulder, Colorado, June 1, 2025 – 1
Sandy Hook Elementary, Newton, Massachusetts,
Dec. 14, 2012 -26

AND SO MANY, MANY MORE KILLED,
SO MANY, MANY MORE HURT 

Our human frailty
has shown itself
Our vulnerability
revealed itself again 

As our shock turns to grief
our anger turns to sorrow
our wounded souls
ask for light 

Despair
turns to strength
Pain
brings compassion
Broken hearts
plant seeds
that grow
slowly
towards joy 

On this narrow bridge
we walk—
one heart
crying together
in pain
in hurt 

Praying with our feet
we walk,
we grieve
we heal —
together
in community
not in defeat 

We do not
fight with swords
We rise from
the quiet stillness
of the heart—
walking side by side
plowshares in hand
through the wilderness
of time

Tonight in each flicker
of the candles flames
a soul rises

In the blackened wicks
in the melting wax
we remember them

May our fears turn to faith
our faith turn to love

In these darkest
of days, may we come
to greater kindness
and love for one another —
to grieve, to heal, to renew

Moving forward may we see God’s light
in every flicker of every flame –
lit around the world at Hanukkah this year.  

© Todd Emerson Greenberg –12/14/2025