Binah, Mother of Understanding,

You know my granddaughter.  She prays to You from her pillow.

She was only on this earth for two years, when she began to fight for her life.

What does a two-year-old know?  She knows herself.  

But surprised that we, who loved her so, didn’t know.  

At eleven, she’s a mixture of bravado and fear,

Of self-confidence and diffidence.

Her hair a tangle of blue and green and pink.

Her eyes wide open, seeming wider without the eyelashes

She pulled out.

And I love her with a visceral grandma love. 

I hear the breath of a lion panting, seeking her out. 

Ready to rip her dignity to shreds, to gnaw at her soul.

Feeling powerless to shield her from that pain,

I seek the shelter of Your understanding love.  And power.       

She is blameless.  

Shield her, deliver her from all evil doers.

May they feel powerless in the pit of their own devising, 

May they learn humility and kindness.

And may You, Mother of Understanding, hear the passion in my prayer and be a shield 

For my granddaughter and all in need of Your protection.

I will not sigh, but shout selah as a battle cry.