Prayer Following the Heaton Park Synagogue Terror Attack on Yom Kippur 5786, by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, 4 October 2025)

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Ephraim Mirvis and Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations

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5 October 2025 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., British Jewry, English vernacular prayer, Manchester synagogue attack

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
אבינו שבשמים, אדון העולמים	Heavenly Father, Master of the Universe, We stand before You in prayer and supplication, stunned by the merciless atrocity committed on Yom Kippur in Manchester — a heartless desecration of Your precious gift of life on the holiest day of the Jewish year.
	Rock and Redeemer of Israel, in whose hands are the souls of the living and the dead, remember in Your compassion the souls of Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, zikhronam livrakhah, whose lives were mercilessly extinguished.
	Almighty God, Who heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds, bring consolation to the families whose lives have been shattered. Grant a complete recovery to the injured and bring peace and comfort to all who have been traumatised by this act of barbarity.
שכתוב הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ׃ (דברים ל:יט)	Teach us to love truth, uphold justice and value life, as it is written: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses; therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your families” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
שכתוב וְנָתַתִּי לָכֶם לֵב חָדָשׁ וְרוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה אֶתֵּן בְּקִרְבְּכֶם וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת־לֵב הָאֶבֶן מִבְּשַׂרְכֶם וְנָתַתִּי לָכֶם לֵב בָּשָׂר׃ (יחזקאל לו:כו)	Endow the perpetrators of evil with a new heart, as it is written, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
ה׳ שְׁמֹר וְהָגֵן עָלֵינוּ פּוֹרֵס סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶֽךָ עַל־כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵּבֵל אַרְצֶךָ	O Lord, keep us safe and secure. Spread the tabernacle of Your peace upon all the dwellers on Earth.^[1] From the Rosh haShanah liturgy
וכן יהי רצון ונאמר אמן	[And so may it be your will, and may we say, Amen.]

This is the prayer offered by chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis of the United Hebrew Congregations of the UK & the Commonwealth, after the terror attack in Manchester, UK, on Yom Kippur 5786 (3 October 2025).

Source(s)

Prayer after Manchester Yom Kippur Attack (Office of the Chief Rabbi 2025)

Notes

Notes
1	From the Rosh haShanah liturgy

Ephraim Mirvis

Ephraim Mirvis (born 1956) is an Orthodox rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Traditionally the post has entailed that he also serves as the head of all British Jews as the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1985 and 1992. (via his Wikipedia article)

Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations

The Office of the Chief Rabbi is the institutional identity for the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth [UK]. Unlike in other European countries, individuals serving as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations are not formally designated by an authoritative state or civic body. Rather, the "office" is occupied by the senior rabbi of the United Synagogue, the umbrella institution for its affiliated Orthodox and Ashkenazi synagogues in the United Kingdom. The position of Chief Rabbi in the UK grew out of an 18th century desire among British Jewry for a respected representative figure comparable to the Archbishop of Canterbury for Anglican Christians. Rabbi Aaron Hart (1670–1756), rabbi of the Great Synagogue in London since 1704, was thus regarded by the 1750s as the first of the British chief rabbis. Over the next century and as British Jewry continued to grow, by the tenure of Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (from 1845-1890) the communal leadership and halakhic authority of the position had become firmly established. When in 1870, the Great Synagogue joined with four other synagogues, and was formally recognized as the United Synagogue by an Act of Parliament, the Chief Rabbi was legally established as its head. The current chief rabbi of the UHC and senior rabbi of the United Synagogue is Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis. (The Office of the Chief Rabbi should not be mistaken for the London Beit Din, the Court of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations.)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)