Leonard Bernstein's "Poem for Yom Kippur"

Poem for Yom Kippur

From the left and from the right I hear:
“We have sinned, we have dealt treacherously, we
have slandered.”

But I hear another song in my heart:
I believe in the truthfulness of art
In being energetic, in being sensitive, in the essentials

Today I believe in prayerfulness
I believe in the man to come
who will give water to the barren areas
But first and foremost I believe in Love

And until we stop shedding blood
I live in a dream
Waiting for the day of love, understanding, the day (today).

Leonard Bernstein

 

"But I hear another song in my heart:
I believe in the truthfulness of art
In being energetic, in being sensitive, in the essentials"

As we await the start of Yom Kippur at sundown tonight, take a moment to read Leonard Bernstein's "Poem for Yom Kippur" which he wrote in the late 1940s while studying Hebrew in Tel Aviv.

BERNSTEIN.CLASSICAL.ORG

Bernstein's Poem for Yom Kippur (Audio) | The Bernstein Experience