Praying for the Government |
Should the Prayer for the Welfare of
the Government, “May He who gives salvation to kings…” be recited on behalf of
the government of the United States of America, even by those who are not happy
with the results of the election? The wording of the prayer is as
follows: May He who gives salvation to kings
and dominion to princes, whose kingdom is everlasting, who delivers His servant
David from the evil sword who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty
waters, bless and protect, guard and help, exalt, magnify and uplift the
President, Vice-President and all officials of this land. May the supreme King
of kings in his mercy put into their hearts and the hearts of all their
counselors and officials, to deal kindly with us and all of Israel. In their days and in ours, may Judah be saved
and Israel dwell in safety, and may the Redeemer come to Zion. May this be His
will, and let us say: Amen. The origin for the Prayer for the Government
comes from Yirmiyahu’s instruction to the Jewish people at the time of the
Babylonian exile (Yirmiyahu 29:7) “Seek the peace of the city to which I have carried
you in exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because in its peace, you shall find
peace.” Since the Jewish people could not govern themselves, they asked God to
guide their foreign leaders. Abudraham introduced a form of the prayer into the
siddur in the 14th century. Neither the Prayer for the Government
nor the Prayer for the State of Israel was established because the Jewish
people love their politicians. In fact, it is often the opposite. We pray that
God will give them guidance to do the right thing. Not every synagogue, even in the Modern
Orthodox community recites the Prayer for the Government. The synagogues that I
attended when I lived in New York never recited the Prayer for the Government
of the United States, yet they recited the Prayer for Israel. Maybe this would be a good time for
the congregations in the United States who are worried about the new government
to add the prayer. The Prayer for the State of Israel (as
opposed to the Prayer for the Government) is a much longer prayer. It includes
a prayer for Israel’s leaders (“Send Your light and truth to its leaders,
ministers and counselors and direct them with good counsel before you”) yet
goes beyond by praying on behalf of the defenders of Israel, focusing on the
ingatheing of the exiles and the return of the Jewish nation to the Land of
Israel. In this week’s Haftara, Yishayahu
27:12-13 we also read about the return of the Jewish people to the Land of
Israel: “It will be on that day that God shall thresh from the surging river to
the Brook of Mitzrayim and you will be gathered up one by one, Children of
Israel. And it will be on that day that a great shofar will be blown and those
who are lost in the land of Ashur and those cast away in the land of Mitzrayim
will come and prostrate themselves to God on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” Now that we have a Modern State of
Israel where Jews can govern themselves, the Jews in the Diaspora who are
dissatisfied can follow the words of the prophets and one by one return to the
Land of Israel. |