This Shabbat, for our benediction, Rabbi Maderer offered these words written by her colleague Rabbi Michael Adam Latz:

To whom am I loyal?
To God.
To my beloved family.
To children everywhere.
To my congregation.
To my people.
To the ideals of my nation.
To the human project.
To our shared commitment to justice, human rights, and dignity for every creature on the planet.
To love.
To creativity.
To the mystery of existence.
To Shabbat.
To the mountains, the oceans, the rivers, the creeks, the rolling hills and valleys and trees and birds and turtles and dolphins and elephants and giraffes and bugs.
To the wonder of being alive.
To doing what’s right, always.
To the vision of the prophets and the rabbis: to close the gap between the way the world is–fraught with cynicism and callous despair–from the world of Divine dreams–overflowing with compassion, love, and dignity.
To all this, I am loyal.