As I wrote May 1, 2016: “Do social justice and scandal go together? It would be funny if the rabbi did something unethical. Reading between the lines, it sounds like some sort of financial problem. I wonder if YCT moved in, paid money all over the place and had articles removed from the web to save him as he is one of their biggest stars.”
(JTA) — Jews have been praying for the welfare of the governments they live under for hundreds of years.
But what happens when they lose faith in the individuals elected to lead those countries?
That’s the dilemma faced by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, an Orthodox rabbi who is president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash in Phoenix and founder and president of Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization. Saying he “cannot pray for the success of this President,” Yanklowitz has written a new text that, without naming President-elect Donald Trump, prays to “Guide the incoming leader of this country away from his basest instincts, thwart his plans to target certain groups and strengthen white supremacy.”
The idea of a Jewish prayer for a successful government harks all the way back to the prophet Jeremiah, who advised the Jews who were taken by the Babylonians: “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” (Jer. 29:7). The first official Jewish prayer for the welfare of the state and its governing officials was introduced in prayer books in the 14th century.
The prayer currently found in most Orthodox prayer books calls on God to:
bless The President, the Vice President, and all the Constituted Officers of Government of this Land. The King who reigns over Kings in his mercy may he protect them from every trouble, woe, and injury, may he rescue them and put into their hearts and into the hearts of all their councilors compassion to do good with us and with all Israel, our brethren.
The Conservative prayer book, Sim Shalom, includes a prayer for the government that includes a request for “blessings for our country — for its government, for its leaders and advisers, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority.” Mishkan T’filah, a Reform siddur, includes a Prayer for Our Country that reads, in part: “Grant our leaders wisdom and forbearance. May they govern with justice and compassion.”
The Jewish Virtual Library points out that over the centuries Jews have adopted different prayers for the governments of the countries in which they have lived in over the centuries, and clearly the prayers have been adapted to suit the situation of the Jews in these countries.
