Exploring the Prayer for The State of Israel

This prayer is said during Shabbat morning services after the Torah reading and Haftarah. It is customary to stand for it, though non/anti-Zionist Jews will show their stance by sitting for it (or occasionally leaving during the prayer).

In 1948, Chief Rabbi Yitzchak / Isaac HaLevi Herzog, with help from Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel, composed the Prayer for the State of Israel. It was edited by Shai Agnon, who added the phrase “reishit tzmichat ge’ulateinu” (the beginning of the flowering of our redemption). The final text was published in the September 21st, 1948 edition of the HaAretz newspaper (and the day before in the HaTzofeh newspaper).

This version, while not in the 1964 Silverman siddur, has been in every Conservative prayer book since the 1985 Sim Shalom (including the 1998 Slim Shalom, 2003 Or Chadash, and the 2016 Lev Shalem). Pictures are in that order.

This prayer is not in most Orthodox siddurim. It is not in the Artscroll “Kol Ya’akov” siddur published in 1996, but it is in the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) version of the Artscroll siddur, published in 1995. It is also in the Artscroll “Zichron Avraham” transliterated siddur published in 1997, and it is in the Koren siddur (picture from the 2015 Sacks edition).

This prayer is not in Reform prayer books until the 2007 “Mishkan Tefilah” siddur. It prefaces the traditional prayer with a verse from Psalms (122:6): Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem; “May those who love you be at peace”. The Reform version takes the Conservative version and removes the sentence praying for those who defend Israel. The same version is found in “Siddur Beit Polin”, a 2015 prayer book in Poland that was supported by the “European Union of Progressive Judaism”.

This is first found in the 1994 Reconstructionist siddur, “Kol HaNeshamah”. It plays with the traditional text in a variety of places.

With appreciation to: Rabbi Ed Bernstein, Liz Levin, Rabbi Miriam Wajnberg, Rabbi Ethan Bair, Yoni Regev, Tzvi Sinensky, Rabbi Ahuvah Loewenthal, Geoffrey Stern,

What’s left out: “Strengthen the hands of those who defend the land…and crown them with the crown of victory.” Why: This was the only phrase in the original prayer referring to the IDF. In a time of war, we need a full prayer for the protection and success of soldiers, like the Mi Shebeirakh prayer used by the IDF. In a less critical time, any hope for the IDF is included in the phrase “grant secure calm (shalvah) to her defenders,” which also includes everyone working for peace, justice, and security in the lands of Israel/Palestine and the state of Israel.

Rock and Redeemer of Yisrael, bless the State of Yisrael, the dawning of our redemption. Shield it with Your compassion and spread over it the sukkah of Your shalom. May a spark of Your spirit inspire the actions of its elected leaders and officials, judges and advisors that they may follow the path of justice, liberty and righteousness. Strengthen the spirit and the hands of those who build and protect our holy land and grant them salvation and life. Bring shalom to this land and everlasting joy to its inhabitants. Be with all the people of Israel wherever they are. Plant within their hearts the love of Zion, and may those of our people who are so inspired, come to Jerusalem, Your city, which bears Your name. Spread Your spirit over all the inhabitants of our land. Uproot hatred and animosity, jealousy and evil. Plant in our hearts love and kinship, peace and friendship. And speedily fulfill the vision of Your prophet: Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. And let us say: Amen.

My God,

In this sacred moment, give us hope for Israel and her future.

Renew our wonder at the miracle of the Jewish State.

In the name of the pioneers who made the deserts bloom - give us the tools to cultivate a diversity of Jewish expression in Israel.

In the name of our fallen soldiers - give us courage to stand up to the words and ways of the zealots. Those in our own midst and those among our neighbors.

In the name of Israeli inventors who have amazed the world with their innovations - help us apply the same ingenuity to finding a path to peace.

In the name of all these women and men - grant us the strength to conquer doubt and despair in Israel.

Replacing doubt with action.

Replacing despair with hope.

And let us say:

Amen

The text attributed to the late Chief Rabbi Herzog, which is widely used in Israel and in some diaspora communities, specifically refers to the State of Israel as "the beginning of the sprouting forth of our Redemption. " Inother words, it authentically declares the Jewish State to be not only the fulfillment of our hopes and prayers, but the incipient phase in the processof the promised "Redemption," a term used only for the realization of our messianic aspirations. On the other hand, this phrase is omitted in the text authorized by the late Chief Rabbi Brodie, as it appears in the Singer's Prayer Book and is commonly used in Britain and the Commonwealth communities. This version passes no authentic opinion, or reserves final judgment, on whether or not the present State of Israel is in fact the embryonic nucleus out of which the ultimate Redemption is bound to develop, with all its universal ramifications of the Messianic era which form an essential par of Prophetic teaching and Jewish belief.

The difference between these two versions is of course not only of semantic, theoretical or even purely philosophical significance. It marks a fundamental divergence of views on the religious interpretation of present-day events as well as the place of the State of Israel in the perspective of biblical visions. From this divergence naturally flow some importantpractical consequences.

If the premessianic character of the State is taken for granted as a certainty, whether as an act of faith or of rational conviction, then obviously conscious and deliberate efforts must be made to ensure that all related biblical prophesies fall into place, and that our national strategy must be based on this assumption. This might, for instance, include the planned liquidation of the diaspora, or an unconcerned resistance to thepressures of world opinion, safe in the knowledge that the advancestowards full Redemption are irreversible. Faith can thus govern pragmatic policies, and risks can be disregarded.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Koren-Sacks Siddur, p. 523-522.

Prayer for the State of Israel: Introduced after the birth of the modern State of Israel in 1948. A key element of the prayer is the phrase "the first flowering of our redemption." It means that the restoration of Israel as a sovereign nation in its own land was not merely an event in secular history. It was the fulfillment of the prophetic vision--first stated by Moses in the quoted verse from Deuteronomy--that Israel would one day be gathered from "the furthermost lands under the heavens," an astonishingly precise prediction of what actually happened. According to the third-century Babylonian teacher Shmuel, "The only difference between this world and the messianic age is subjection to foreign powers" (Berakhot 34b). In the view Israel's independence was in itself a redemptive moment, a return to Jewish self-determination, self-government and self-defense under the sovereignty of God alone.

Relating to the State of Israel as "the first sprouting of our redemption" has proved especially problematic over the years. Many have been troubled by its messianic pretensions, holding that the State of Israel does not merit the title. Seeing the state as already redemptive, moreover, has led some extremists to demand a post-historical morality that permits violence toward Arabs. This liberal version of the prayer therefore strikes a balance. It does see Israel as "the first sprouting of our redemption," but the image of redemption is a far cry from the traditionalistic portrait that includes all Jews being restored to their homeland and the rest of humanity converted to the true vision of the one and unique Jewish God.

Bless the state of Israel, nascent flowering of our redemption.
ברך את מדינת ישראל ראשית צמיחת גאולתנו

This quote, representing the most powerful and controversial component of the prayer for the state of Israel, was coined by then chief Rabbi Herzog in 1948. It has become the mantra of the religious Zionist movement and the nemesis of the Haredi world due to its religious connotations.

Who Wrote the Prayer for the State of Israel?

In Elul 5708, September 1948, the Prayer for the State of Israel was printed in Jerusalem. At the end of the first edition it says: “Founded and established by our rabbis in Eretz Yisrael, the Chief Rabbis Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog and Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel.” (Arend, p. 192 and cf. the reproduction of that edition on p. 200). Since then, other prayers for the State of Israel have been composed by Rabbis Isser Yehudah Unterman, Israel Brodie, Moshe Greenberg and Simchah Roth (Arend, p. 193 and note 38; Siddur Va’ani Tefilati, Jerusalem, 1998, p. 373). Nonetheless, the Chief Rabbis’ version has always been the most popular. It has been reprinted enumerable times in popular prayer books such as Birnbaum, Rinat Yisrael, Artscroll (in the RCA version) and Sim Shalom.

Despite the attribution at the end of the first edition, rumors and testimonies persisted that it was written by Shai Agnon, who later won the Nobel Prize for Literature. For example, Prof. Dov Sadan related in 1986 that

When I came before Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog and I mentioned that I tried to compose a sort of prayer for the welfare of the State, he smiled at me and said: “R. Shai Agnon beat you to it” (Sadan, p. 551).

Similarly, Agnon himself frequently hinted or stated that he had a hand in writing the Prayer for the State of Israel (Cohen, pp. 103-106).

In 1999, the mystery was cleared up by Yoel Rappel as a result of research he did while studying with me at the Schechter Institute (Yoel Rappel’s research was summarized by Eldar). The testimony of Dov Sadan does not jive with a letter which Rabbi Uziel sent to New York in 1949. He enclosed there “the prayer for the State of Israel which I edited together with my friend the Chief Rabbi [=Herzog]”.

In 1975, Yaakov Goldman, Rabbi Herzog’s former secretary, wrote to Emunah Yaron, Agnon’s daughter, that Herzog was upset one day because they had asked him to quickly compose a prayer for the State for an important ceremony. Goldman told him not to worry; “I will bring your version to Mr. Agnon who will take a look at it and write his comments.” Goldman took it to Agnon who told him to come back the next day. Agnon did not change much. He improved the style here and there and he added the phrase “reishit zemihat geulateinu” [=the beginning of the flowering of our redemption].

According to Akiva Eldar’s article, “a well-known public figure” called up Yoel Rappel and gave him a xerox of an official envelope upon which is printed “The office of the Chief Rabbi of Israel”. Underneath that heading, someone wrote: “The Prayer for the State as it was copied and corrected by Mr. Agnon in his handwriting”. This note was written in the handwriting of Rabbi Herzog. In other words, Agnon copied the version which Herzog had sent him and then added his own corrections, but it was composed by Rabbis Herzog and Uziel. Yoel Rappel has informed me that the “well-known public figure” was Rabbi Shmuel Avidor Hacohen who served as Rabbi Herzog’s secretary for a number of years.

But to pray regularly for the peace of the government that is at times at odds with one's own outlook--isn't that going too far? These words seem to be dispatched from a distant time especially to us. They have made their way from a man of the Temple, which had been destroyed, to the contemporary generation, in which a sovereign Jewish state exists. We live in a time of establishing sovereignty, a time in which there are many questions and challenges. And indeed, it is entirely possible these days to find oneself keeping one's distance from the authorities--that is to say, from legitimate governance--because of the sadness one feels about all that has yet to be realized. It is to such people--and to some extent, actually, thus to us all--that the text speaks. It asks: Can a Jew really reject the reality and existence of such sovereignty, the still-developing polity, simply because of all the divisions it has not healed and the challenges it is facing? If that were to happen, what new layer of governance could possibly emerge? And what kind of world would Jews (and their children) be facing without responsible governance? The horrors of the Shoah and its unbearable story of human perfidy against millions of fellow humans, Jews and others, still ring in our ears. And it is thus particularly to us, twenty-first century Jews who are witnesses to Israeli sovereignty, that I hear Hananiah speaking. He is calling out to the present-day citizens of the sovereign State of Israel and admonishing us not to distance ourselves from our own authorities and not to denigrate it...even if it has not yet put all its values into practice. Pray for it, he exhorts us, for all of Jewish history has been pointing to and leading up to this moment. Now, more than at any other moment, is the time to pray for the welfare of the Jewish polity: that it may rise to all its challenges, and especially the longing for peace that is part and parcel of its people's Torah. Pray, and thus give voice to the belief that the sovereign Jewish state will actualize the vision of its prophets, and that a regime of law and justice for all its citizens shall yet be established within it.