When the Israelites were exiled to Babylonia in 586BCE, the prophet Jeremiah commanded that the Israelites should pray for Babylon: “And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7 The thought was that if we prayed for Babylonia—and its leader—then it would go well for Babylonia—and the Israelites.
In Pirkei Avot 3:2, Rabbi Chanina teaches: “Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbor alive.”
But Pirkei Avot also teaches: Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress. (2: 3). So do we cozy up, do we remain active or as one member quoted from Fiddler on the Roof, “May G-d bless and keep the tzar far away from us.”
Prayers for our countries became somewhat standardized in the 14th Century withavid Abudarham’s prayer book.
In the 18th Century, British prayerbooks contained a prayer for the Commonwealth that praised G-d and the British sovereign.
That prayer emphasized Jewish loyalty to the broader polity and asks God to “bless, guard, protect, help, exalt, magnify, and highly aggrandize,” the sovereign in the hopes that these words of praise and God’s grace would protect the local Jewish community. The prayer represents Jewish hopes that open expressions of fealty in synagogue would provide security for their communities and lessen incidences of anti-Jewish discrimination or violence.
Yet, that is not what was needed in this new country in the late 18th century. The Jewish community of Richmond, VA in 1789 wrote a prayer that spelled out Washington as an acrostic. This prayer is enshrined in the National Museum of American Jewish History, a stone’s throw from the Constitution Museum: https://joshblackman.com/blog/2010/11/14/a-prayer-for-the-country-written-by-the-richmond-jewish-congregation-in-1789/ It is one of my favorites!
Reform Movement prayerbooks, Conservative, Reconstructing Judaism through multiple generations of prayerbooks contain a prayer (or more) for our country.
We are going to do something a little different tonight. If you could pray for our country today, what would you pray for?
After 10-15 minutes of brainstorming, and some editing later, this is what emerged:
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A prayer for our country, written by Congregation Kneseth Israel, Elgin on the occasion of Independence Day Weekend, 2022, 5782
O Lord our G-d, we gather to pray for our country as Jews have done for centuries. We pray as our ancestors did, Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, and Rebecca, Rachel and Leah and our American forefathers: George, and Thomas, and Samuel, and Alexander, Abigail, and Martha, Anne and Rebecca, each of whom had a vision of this country.
We pray for our leaders and our democracy. Preserve our nation and our democracy. Restore its image in the world. Allow us to be a light to the nations, a shining light on the hill. Cause a new light to shine.
Awake and arise to the knowledge that we all are made in the image of the Divine, created to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All of us.
May our citizens remember to do unto others as they wish others to do unto them. To love our neighbors as ourselves. To take care of the widow, the orphan and the stranger
Enlighten our leaders. Give them insight and compassion.
Remember our Constitution and preserve it.
Invigorate our commitment. Empower us to work for the day when liberty is proclaimed for everyone.
Cause them to administer justice equally to all.
Amen! Selah. So may it be so.
Give us strength. Give us strength to turn our anger into action, to return to the vision of this country. Give us hope. Give us joy. Give us peace so that everyone can sit under their vine and fig tree and none shall make them afraid.
Other modern samples:
Another prayer for July 4th
Brucha Ya, Ruach HaOlam
Bless Yah, Breath of the universe
Thank you for all the contradictions of Home:
Connection and Independence,
Satisfaction and Frustration
Dull Sameness and Scary Change.
Faith and Skepticism
Patriotism and Rebellion
Cosmic Glue and Holy Separation.
Trust and Disbelief
Joy and Agony
True Perception And Cruel Obtuseness
Kindness and Squabbles
Imprisonment and Picnics
Serene Nature and Fabulous Fireworks.
Home.
Modim Anachnu HaMakom.
Thank you for this place, our country, our home,
the United States of America of many voices,
land of both opportunity and disappointment.
Imperfect but sometimes incredibly glorious, home.
Where doubt can be an act of faith
And all hands are needed.
Amen
© 2010 Trisha Arlin
May You tear out autocracy, tyranny and despotism,
ruin those who cheat and deceive,
and upend those who oppress the vulnerable.
Make the reign of the arrogant disappear from all lands.
May the people attacking democracies everywhere
stumble and fail, and may their plans be as nought.
Stop them, humble them, bring on their downfall,
soon, in our days.
May You give to all peoples of the world
the strength and will to pursue righteousness
and to seek peace as a unified force,
so that violence be uprooted, and healing, good life
and peace may flourish. (Amen.)
Rabbi David Seidenberg
Our God and God of our ancestors, bless this country and all who dwell within it.
Help us to experience the blessings of our lives and circumstances
To be vigilant, compassionate, and brave
Strengthen us when we are afraid
Help us to channel our anger
So that it motivates us to action
Help us to feel our fear
So that we do not become numb
Help us to be generous with others
So that we raise each other up
Help us to be humble in our fear, knowing that as vulnerable as we feel there are those at greater risk,
And that it is our holy work to stand with them
Help us to taste the sweetness of liberty
To not take for granted the freedoms won in generations past or in recent days
To heal and nourish our democracy, that it may be like a tree planted by the water whose roots reach down to the stream
It need not fear drought when it comes, its leaves are always green
Source of all Life,
Guide our leaders with righteousness
Strengthen their hearts but keep them from hardening
That they may use their influence and authority to speak truth and act for justice
May all who dwell in this country share in its bounty, enjoy its freedoms and be protected by its laws
May this nation use its power and wealth to be a voice for justice, peace and equality for all who dwell on earth
May we be strong and have courage
To be bold in our action and deep in our compassion
To discern when we must listen and when we must act
To uproot bigotry, intolerance, misogyny, racism, discrimination and violence in all its forms
To celebrate the many faces of God reflected in the wondrous diversity of humanity
To welcome the stranger and the immigrant and to honor the gifts of those who seek refuge and possibility here,
As they have since before this nation was born
Let justice well up like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream
(Jeremiah 17:8; Isaiah 16:3–5; Amos 5:24)
© Rabbi Ayelet Cohen. This prayer was originally commissioned for Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York, New York.
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A reading before our silent, Kabbalat Shabbat Amidah:
Siddur
Sometimes, I hold my siddur
Against my chest,
Pressed to my heart
Like a dressing on a wound.
They speak to each other
In a language as sweet as love,
As simple as hope,
As ancient as G-d’s spirit
Hovering over the endless deep,
Calling through the darkness
To summon the light,
To receive the soul of prayer,
Yearning, ever yearning,
To praise and sanctify
G-d’s Holy Name.
© 2022 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com.
Judy Chicago Merger Poem
And then all that has divided us will merge
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both women and men will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another’s will
And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many
And then all will share equally in the Earth’s abundance
And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old
And then all will nourish the young
And then all will cherish life’s creatures
And then everywhere will be called Eden once again
Copyright Judy Chicago, 1979. <www.judychicago.com> Used with permission.