[השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם]
(1) Remember, O God, what has befallen us; Behold, and see our disgrace! (2) Our heritage has passed to aliens, Our homes to strangers. (3) We have become orphans, fatherless; Our mothers are like widows. (4) We must pay to drink our own water, Obtain our own kindling at a price. (5) We are hotly pursued; Exhausted, we are given no rest. (6) We hold out a hand to Egypt; To Assyria, for our fill of bread. (7) Our fathers sinned and are no more; And we must bear their guilt. (8) Slaves are ruling over us, With none to rescue us from them. (9) We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness. (10) Our skin glows like an oven, With the fever of famine. (11) They have ravished women in Zion, Maidens in the towns of Judah. (12) Princes have been hanged by them; No respect has been shown to elders. (13) Young men must carry millstones, And youths stagger under loads of wood. (14) The old men are gone from the gate, The young men from their music. (15) Gone is the joy of our hearts; Our dancing is turned into mourning. (16) The crown has fallen from our head; Woe to us that we have sinned! (17) Because of this our hearts are sick, Because of these our eyes are dimmed: (18) Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate; Jackals prowl over it. (19) But You, O God, are enthroned forever, Your throne endures through the ages. (20) Why have You forgotten us utterly, Forsaken us for all time? (21) Take us back, O God, to Yourself, And let us come back; Renew our days as of old! (22) For truly, You have rejected us, Bitterly raged against us. Take us back, O God, to Yourself, And let us come back; Renew our days as of old!
God return us. Because it concludes with words of reproof, it was necessary to repeat the preceding verse again, and so did Isaiah, the 12 minor prophets, and Ecclesiastes.
RETURN US-To the city of the dwelling place (sanctuary) of your name, and we shall return to serving You as in days of old.
חדש ימינו כקדם, כאדם הראשון כמד"א (בראשית ג') ויגרש את האדם וישכן מקדם לגן עדן...
Eichah Rabbah
"Renew our days as of old": Like the first human being, as it is written: "He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden [the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword to guard the way to the tree of life]" (Gen 3:24).
(ח) וַיִּטַּ֞ע ה' אֱלֹקִ֛ים גַּן־בְעֵ֖דֶן מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַיָּ֣שֶׂם שָׁ֔ם אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָצָֽר׃
(8) The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed.
Loss of the land of Israel to the Jewish people, is comparable to loss of the garden of Eden to mankind... Life in the land of Israel is of a quality similar to what life in the garden of Eden had been...
(ו) כשמכניסים ס"ת להיכל אומרים:
וּבְנֻחה יאמַר. שׁוּבָה ה' רִבְבות אַלְפֵי יִשרָאֵל:
קוּמָה ה' לִמְנוּחָתֶךָ. אַתָּה וַאֲרון עֻזֶּךָ:
כּהֲנֶיךָ יִלְבְּשׁוּ צֶדֶק. וַחֲסִידֶיךָ יְרַנֵּנוּ:
בַּעֲבוּר דָּוִד עַבְדֶּךָ אַל תָּשֵׁב פְּנֵי מְשִׁיחֶךָ:
כִּי לֶקַח טוב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם. תּורָתִי אַל תַּעֲזבוּ:
עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ. וְתמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר:
דְּרָכֶיהָ דַרְכֵי נעַם וְכָל נְתִיבתֶיהָ שָׁלום:
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה' אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה. חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם:
When you place the Torah scroll in the ark, say:
When [the ark] rested, [Moses] would say: "Return, Adonai, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel." Arise, Adonai, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. May Your priests be robed in righteousness and Your pious ones rejoice. For the sake of David, Your servant, do not turn away the face of Your anointed (messiah). For it is a good doctrine I have given you. Do not forsake My Torah. It is a tree of life to those who hold it fast. And the one who supports it is happy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace. Return us, Adonai, to You and we shall return. Renew our days as of old.
-Sky News, 17/4/2020
COVID-19 has shown us that there is an abundance of good will, harmony, humanity and solidarity in our society. And, conversely, there are also examples in this critically vulnerable time of violence against women, racist attacks against those of Asian origin, the hoarding of limited resources, the corrosive usage of stock-market gambling, unloading and profiteering and some other recalcitrant forces at work, including musings about testing the vaccine in Africa...
Doctors, nurses and many other health professionals and workers are providing exceptional public health services. At the same time, it’s heart-wrenching to be confronted with the sad reality that many of the people providing essential services are compensated poorly — notably people working in seniors’ residences, daycares and grocery stores.
Within this context, I think it may be helpful to underscore three problems that have laid the groundwork for the present crisis and what I what refer to as societal fault lines: social inequalities, environmental intransigence and economic avarice.
My starting point is what preceded COVID-19 should not be considered normal. A vastly re-imagined society post-pandemic is not only desirable but necessary.
-Paul R. Carr, TheConversation.com, 13/5/20
https://theconversation.com/returning-to-normal-post-coronavirus-would-be-inhumane-136558
שְׁמַע קוֹלֵֽנוּ ה' אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ חוּס וְרַחֵם עָלֵֽינוּ וְקַבֵּל בְּרַחֲמִים וּבְרָצוֹן אֶת תְּפִלָּתֵֽנוּ: הֲשִׁיבֵֽנוּ ה' אֵלֶֽיךָ וְנָשֽׁוּבָה חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵֽינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם: אֲמָרֵֽינוּ הַאֲזִֽינָה ה' בִּֽינָה הֲגִיגֵֽנוּ: יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִֽינוּ וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבֵּֽנוּ לְפָנֶֽיךָ ה' צוּרֵֽנוּ וְגוֹאֲלֵֽנוּ: אַל תַּשְׁלִיכֵֽנוּ מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ וְרֽוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ אַל תִּקַּח מִמֶּֽנּוּ: אַל תַּשְׁלִיכֵֽנוּ לְעֵת זִקְנָה כִּכְלוֹת כֹּחֵֽנוּ אַל תַּעַזְבֵֽנוּ: אַל תַּעַזְבֵֽנוּ ה' אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ אַל תִּרְחַק מִמֶּֽנּוּ: עֲשֵׂה עִמָּֽנוּ אוֹת לְטוֹבָה וְיִרְאוּ שׂוֹנְאֵֽינוּ וְיֵבֽשׁוּ כִּי אַתָּה ה' עֲזַרְתָּֽנוּ וְנִחַמְתָּֽנוּ: כִּי לְךָ ה' הוֹחָֽלְנוּ אַתָּה תַעֲנֶה אדושם אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ:
Hear our Voice, Adonai, our God; spare us and have compassion on us, and accept our prayers mercifully and willingly. Lead us back to You, Adonai and we shall find the way back; renew our days as of old. Lam 5:21.
Give ear to our words, Adonai! Consider our meditations. May the words of our mouths be acceptable — and the thoughts of our hearts—before You, Adonai, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Cast us not away from Your Presence, and Your holy spirit take not from us. Ps 51:13.
Do not cast us off in time of old age, when our strength fails, do not forsake us. Ps 71:9. Forsake us not, Adonai, our God, be not far removed from us. Ps 38:22 Give us a sign of Your goodness that our enemies may see it and be ashamed; for You, Adonai, have helped us and comforted us. Ps 86:17 For You, Adonai, do we wait, You will answer us, our Master, our God. Ps 38:16