PRAYER FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL

NETZARIM YISRAELI EMUNAH.......

PRAYER FOR THE WELFARE OF
THE STATE OF ISRAEL
by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel

This prayer is traditionally recited during Shabbat morning services as well as other times throughout the year to show solidarity with Israel.

This traditional version of the Prayer for the State of Israel was published by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in 1948.

`Our Father who is in heaven, Protector and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the dawn of our deliverance. Shield it beneath the wings of Your love; spread over it Your canopy of peace; send Your light and Your truth to its leaders, officers, and counselors, and direct them with Your good counsel.

Strengthen the defenders of our Holy Land; grant them, our G-d, salvation and crown them with victory. Establish peace in the land, and everlasting joy for its inhabitants.

Remember our brethren, the whole house of Israel, in all the lands of their dispersion. Speedily bring them to Zion, Your city, to Jerusalem Your dwelling-place, as it is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses:

“Even if you are dispersed in the uttermost parts of the world, from there the L-rd your G-d will gather and fetch you. The L-rd your G-d will bring you into the land which your ancestors possessed, and you shall possess it; and G-d will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors.”

Unite our hearts to love and revere Your name, and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah. Speedily send us Your righteous Messiah of the House of David, to redeem those waiting for Your salvation. Shine forth in Your glorious majesty over all the inhabitants of Your world. Let everything that breathes proclaim: “The Lord G-d of Israel is King; His majesty rules over all.”

Amen.

Selah.`

A Prayer To Yisrael`s Rock And Defender

Avinu, Sheba-Shamayim,

 Our Heavenly Father

Tzur Yisrael Vegoalo,

Rock Of Yisrael

Barech Et Medinat Yisrael,

Bless The State Of Yisrael

Resheet Tzmichat Ge-ula-teynu.

The First Sprout Of Our Redemption

Chasek Et Yedey Meginey Eretz Kod-sheynu Vehan-chilem, Yeshua,

Elohim,

Strengthen The Hands Of Those Who Defend Our Holy Land And Bring Them Salvation Our Elohim

Va-ateret Nitza-chon Te-atrem,

And Crown Them With A Wreathe Of Victory,

Vena-tata Shalom Ba-Aretz,

Establish Peace In The Land

Vesim-chat Olam Le-yosh-veha.

And Joy Everlasting For It`s Inhabitants.

Amein

This is much more than a prayer for the government.

It is a proclamation of belief that:

1) the establishment of the State of Israel is a divine event and that this event is the fulfillment of God's promise to the Jewish people and part of the divine plan to redeem the world;

2) the maintaining of the state and its defense is a matter for God's intervention;

 
3) God will bring all Jews to live in Israel from the Diaspora.

The ideology that is the basis of the prayer is expressed best by Rabbi Yehudah Amital, a former government minister and leading religious leader in Israel.

 He writes that Zionism is:

 "…the Lord's vehicle for preparing Israel for its redemption. The habitation of the Land of Israel by a group of its children, transforming wastelands into gardens, and the establishment of independence within its borders, are stages in the process of redemption…and even though they are accompanied by suffering and tribulation, the strides are certain and the course is clear…"

The authorship of the prayer is unclear.

Some say it was written by Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Herzog and Ben Zion Uziel with the assistance of other rabbis.

 Others suggest that the prayer was revised by the rabbis after suggestions made by Nobel Laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon, one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.

 Still others are convinced that Agnon wrote the prayer himself and that it was later adopted by the Chief Rabbinate.

Community Acceptance

A prayer for the State of Israel is recited in synagogues of most religious streams in Israel and the Diaspora (outside of the ultra-Orthodox communities). In Israel, most use the text of the Chief Rabbinate, although there are congregations that use their own versions and variations.

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