In preparation for the moment of silence called by President Obama, our colleague Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York has written the kavannah below.
We pray for the recovery of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (Gavriela bat Gloria v'Spencer)
Kavannah for Moment of Silence
"Our tradition is that in the event of suffering, we fall silent and pray for mercy." - Bavli Berakhot 62a
May we fall silent now, and listen to these gunshots still reverberating, and hear these bullets ricochet through our society. Let us never make such a deafening noise. Let us add soft voices, instead, to human discourse, in which we seek to understand before we insist on being understood. Thus we may merit to be like the students of Hillel, esteeming the words of our adversaries.