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. (The Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof” pokes fun at this tradition when the townspeople of Anatevka ask the rabbi for a prayer for the Czar. “May God bless and keep the Czar … far away from us!” he responds.) “How people pray for their government reveals much about what they think of their government,” Brandeis University historian Jonathan Sarna writes in a chapter included in a 2005 book on synagogue liturgy. “Changes over time in these prayers shed light on religion and politics alike.”


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