Deir Yassin Remembered 2001:Concluding Prayer by Rabbi John D. Rayner"Eternal and Merciful God, to whom every human soul is precious, we lay before You our sorrow and shame that the land of our ancestors has in modern times been the scene of a bitter conflict, not yet ended between two peoples. We confess that in that conflict terrible things have been done, terrible sufferings inflicted and endured by both sides.Tonight we have remembered the innocent victims of the massacre that occurred at Deir Yassin in 1948, the terror it caused, the flight it precipitated, the tragedy of dispossession and exile that has resulted from it; and those of us who are Jews confess our people's share of responsibility for that tragedy. Tonight we have engaged in a common act of mourning. But we have not come here only to express our grief, still less to indulge in recrimination. Rather, having looked into the tragic past, we wish to look forward to a better future, and resolve to do what we can to bring it about. We know what that requires of us. So many teachers of religion and morality have said it. "Justice, justice shall you follow." (Deut. 16:20). "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). "Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34:15). Let us dedicate ourselves anew to that task. May our meeting here this evening bring nearer the time of reconciliation, when Abraham's children will live together in dignity and prosperity, in mutual understanding and respect, in friendship and tranquillity; when "they will sit every one under their vine and under their fig tree, and none shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:4); when the ancient vision will be fulfilled, (in Hebrew) "Behold how good it is, and how pleasant, when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1)." | 
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