We live in a democracy. And for this I am very grateful. It is imperfect. It is messy. It is confusing. And it works. Better than most systems.

When Simon and I used to do colonial re-enacting in Chelmsford, I used to think I was somewhat disingenuous. You see, back in the day we were portraying, I would not have been able to vote. You needed to be a white, male, Christian land owner. As a Jewish woman, I could not have participated. My voice would not have counted.

For thousands of years, since Jeremiah’s time, Jews have prayed for their governments, their leaders and advisors. My favorite one of these is from the Jewish congregation in Richmond, VA, welcoming the newly elected president, George Washington. It is an acrostic, with Washington’s name spelled out in the Hebrew. The current prayer book my congregation uses includes a prayer for our country at the conclusion of the Torah service. It lays out the vision of leadership that we hope for our country.

My mother died on Election Day in 2008. Her favorite reading, what she read at her own Confirmation in 1939 at Shaare Emeth in Saint Louis was “Grant us peace.” She read it again at my own daughter’s Bat Mitzvah in 2003. It too gives us a vision of the world we would like to see. That I work tirelessly to try to achieve. I still hear it in her preferred version with the “Thees and the Thous.”

Most prayer books do not have a ready made prayer for elections. That has not stopped friends and colleagues from writing their own, which is a very good practice. It brings a certain level of kavanah/intention to the prayer and to the action. It elevates something that could be ordinary and makes it extraordinary.

Today I offer a few of them. I have arranged them first in the singular and then in the plural. The singular ones seem perfect for the act of casting those individual votes. The ones in the plural seem written to be read by a community.

Read them all or just one. Read them online. Print them out. Take them with you to the polls. Reflect on this responsibility, this obligation, this right. Pray for discernment, for wisdom. Meditate. Enjoy the whole experience and remember that there are still many all over the world who are not privileged to enjoy this right.

Whatever you do, vote. Your vote counts. Your vote is your voice. It matters. It is vitally important. Do it today. Tomorrow will be too late.

Tomorrow, when we wake up, we have to roll up our sleeves and get back to work. To fulfill the vision that the prophets exhorted us to. To recognize that everyone, even those on the opposite side, were created “b’tzelem elohim” in the image of G-d. Everyone.

Here they are:

For Wisdom During U.S. Presidential Elections
God of Justice,
Protector and Redeemer,
Grant guidance to our nation
As we select leaders,
Senators, Congresspersons and a President,
The men and women who promise
To uphold the Constitution,
To uphold our values,
To serve and to govern,
To bring prosperity to our land,
To protect our homes and secure our future.

Grant wisdom and courage to voters
To select a visionary President
And steadfast leaders,
People who will serve our citizens,
And all who reside within our borders,
With honor and integrity
To forge a flourishing and peaceful future.

Bless our future President with
Wisdom and strength,
Fortitude and insight,
Balanced by a deep humanity
And a love of peace,
Leading us to a time
When liberty and equality will
Reign supreme throughout the land.

God of Truth,
Source and Shelter,
Grant safety and security to all nations,
So that truth and harmony will resound
From the four corners of the earth.
Let the light of our U.S. democracy
Shine brightly,
A beacon of hope
For every land and every people.

Alden Solovy

With my vote today I am prepared and intending
to seek peace for this country,
as You taught through Your prophet:

“Seek out the peace of the city
where I cause you to roam
and pray for her sake to God YHVH,
for in her peace you all will have peace.”
(Jer. 29:7)

May it be Your will that votes
will be counted faithfully
and may You account my vote
as if I had fulfilled this verse
with all my power.

May it be good in Your eyes
to give a wise and listening heart
to whomever we elect today
and may You raise for us a government
whose rule is for good and blessing,
to bring justice and peace
to all the inhabitants of the world
and to Jerusalem, for rulership is Yours!

Just as I participated in elections today
so may I merit to do good deeds
and repair the world with all my actions,
and with the act of. . .[fill in your pledge]
which I pledge to do today
on behalf of all living creatures
and in remembrance of the covenant
of Noah’s waters,
to protect and to not destroy
the earth and her plenitude.

May You give to all the peoples of this country
the strength and will to pursue righteousness
and to seek peace as unified force
in order to cause to flourish,
throughout the world, good life and peace
and may You fulfill for us the verse:

“May the pleasure of Adonai our God
be upon us, and establish
the work of our hands for us,
May the work of our hands endure.” (Ps. 90:17)

     Rabbi David Seidenberg

Prayer for the Electorate
May the One who graces
each person with knowledge
and teaches humanity understanding,
bless and protect the voters of this land
on the upcoming presidential election,
so that they may place in all their gates
leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds
leaders of fifties and leaders of tens,
people of valor who revere God,
people of truth who despise corruption.

The One who sustains nations
on order, on truth, and on peace:
may it be Your will
that no misfortune occur by their hands,
and may the nation rejoice
when the righteous abound.
Save them from a wicked path,
from those who speak perversely.
Send wisdom into their heart
and make knowledge pleasant to their soul,
as it says, “Then you shall understand
virtue and justice; equality and every good path.”
And may it be Your will.
And let us say: Amen.

David Zvi Kalman

Grant us peace, Your most precious gift, O Eternal Source of peace, and give us the will to proclaim its message to all the peoples of the earth. Bless our country, that it may always be a stronghold of peace, and its advocate among the nations. May contentment reign within its border, health and happiness within its homes. Strengthen the bonds of friendship among the inhabitants of all lands, and may the love of Your name hallow every home and every heart. Blessed is the Eternal God, the Source of peace.

Gates of Prayer

A Meditation on Voting