Tefillah 076

6:
We have seen that the prayer for the government of the host country was usually couched in terms that eloquently and copiously praised the local monarch. Clearly, this was to a certain extent a sop to the government (which in not a few cases was not above placing agents inside synagogues to report on the activities there). It is probably for reasons of policy, therefore, that it often became the custom to recite this prayer in the vernacular. To us it may seem incredible that Jews in Russia would continue to recite this prayer even during the pogroms that were initiated by Tzar Alexander III and Tzar Nicholas II.

7:
It is obvious that some changes would have to be made in democratic countries. Where the country is a republic it became the custom to pray for the welfare of the government as such rather than for the president – though this was a gradual development. For example, Siddur Sim Shalom [page 148] has "A prayer for our country" which asks God's blessing

In democratic countries, where the government is elected by the people and therefore is heavily identified with a political hue, which differs from time to time, it is much more convenient to pray for the welfare of the country rather than the President and his cabinet. In a constitutional monarchy, such as the United Kingdom, the problem was solved by praying for the welfare of the monarch (a non-political head of state) and the monarch's immediate family.

8:
In this regard, it is perhaps permissible to introduce a whimsical note. The "Prayer for the Royal Family" used in synagogues in Britain was originally penned by one Simeon Singer in 1890 and, with a few minor changes, is still going strong. In 1946 the then British Chief Rabbi, Joseph Hertz (a graduate of JTS in New York) published a commentary on Singer's prayer book and made a few textual corrections. One notable correction was in connection with the prayer now under discussion. In Singer's version, based on the models imported from Eastern Europe, God was asked to

The chief rabbi struck out the word 'hurts' as he saw no reason that God guard the monarch from Hertz!

9:
In Israel the situation is more complicated. Logic would suggest that in a self-governing Jewish state there should be no reason for us to

because the State of Israel by definition is the ultimate opposite of exile. However, as has been noted many a time and oft "it is easier to take the Jews out of the exile than to take the exile out of the Jews". The ingathered exiles brought with them their customs and traditions and wanted a prayer to replace the prayer for the government, presumably for patriotic reasons. It is not clear who created the version that is used in most synagogues in Israel. But two things are clear:

• the prayer was 'authorized' by chief rabbis Herzog and Uzziel (and, perhaps, penned by one of them);
• one phrase in the prayer which became a bone of contention was suggested by Shai Agnon.

This phrase was the Hebrew description of the emergent State of Israel (1948) as being reshit tzemiĥat ge'ulatenu [the first blossoming of our redemption]. The ultra-orthodox and the ultra-secular alike rejected the phrase because they saw the State as a purely secular matter with no divine or messianic intimations at all.

10:
Siddur Va'ani Tefillati [page 373] offers a prayer which combines a prayer that God bless the State and imbue its leaders with the ability to "build it and establish it in justice and righteousness" with a prayer for the welfare and safety if Israel's armed forces. Popular demand required the addition, in the fourth printing of this prayer-book, of the 1948 'authorized' prayer and a later prayer for the welfare of Israel's soldiers.

To be continued.

In Tefillah 074 we discussed the addition (in Sim Shalom and Va'ani Tefillati) of the Hebrew word ba'olam to the last benediction of the Amidah.

Jerry Langer writes:

I agree with your reasoning for the emendation of "sim shalom" to include "ba'olam". In addition, in considering both the dispersion of our people and the way that events throughout the world have repercussions for Israel and the Jewish people, I have come to believe that the prospects for peace, in either its narrow or extended understanding, for the Jewish people are greatly affected by the state of stability, peace, prosperity and well-being of many other peoples in
the world. Therefore, the insertion of "ba'olam" is not only universalistic, but also a very practical recognition of the
interpendence of our fate with the fate of others. A question on a related emendation: In our minyan (not affiliated with
the Conservative / Masorati movement) we often insert the phrase, "v'al kol yoshvei tevel" in the last line of kaddish shalem (and other versions that include the line: "Oseh shalom bim'romov…". I would appreciate your comment on this custom (and wording).

I respond:

The initial wording of the prayer is a quotation from Job 25:2. However, it it quite clear from various midrashim that what was intended was a contrast. One Midrash for example [Bamidbar Rabba 11:7] explains thus:

I found a very nice variation in one commentary. It is the commentary of Rabbi Pinĥas Horowitz [1731-1805] to the Gemara, Ketubot 112b:

Since the second paragraph of the Aleynu prayer is concerned with the ultimate victory of monotheism over idolatry and the establishment of God's kingdom on Earth, it seems to me more appropriate to add this phrase to the Aleynu prayer, which also ends with the same quotation from Zechariah, than to alter a prayer, Kaddish, which is far better known even by people who are far removed from regular worship.

On a different note, I am sure that Jerry will not take offence if I point out that the name of the Conservative Movement in Israel is Masorti (and not Masorati, as Jerry wrote). Masorti means 'Traditional'; Mesorati means 'Massoretic' – indicating the Hebrew text of the bible.