Prayer on the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the State of Israel for North American Jews, by Rabbi Ayelet Cohen (T’ruah 2023)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Ayelet Cohen and T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

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21 April 2023 under the Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use)

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Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar), Medinat Yisra'el (the State of Israel)

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מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., North American Jewry, the Occupation, 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
מְקוֹר הַחַיִּים עוֹשֶׂה פֶלֶא בָּרֵךְ אֶת מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת כׇּל תּוֹשָׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ הָגֵן עָלֶיהָ בְּאֶבְרַת חַסְדֶּךָ וּפְרוֹשׂ עָלֶיהָ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶךָ חַזֵּק אֶת לִבּוֹת אֶזְרָחֶיהָ רוֹדְפֵי הַצֶּדֶק וְהַדֵּמוֹ קְרַטְיָה שֶׁיַּעֲבִיר וּקוֹלָם כְּשׁוֹפָר בְּכׇל הָאָרֶץ׃	Source of life, Maker of wonders bless the State of Israel and all the inhabitants of the land. Protect her with infinite compassion; spread over her your shelter of peace.^[1] Cf. the prayer “Hashkivenu,” Cf. Amos 9:11, Cf. Rav Avraham Isaac Kook, Mo’adei HaRe’iyah (Silver from the Land of Israel) p. 97. Strengthen the hearts and the will of its citizens calling out for justice and democracy. May their voices ring out like a shofar throughout the land.^[2] Cf. Leviticus 25:9-10
צְמִיחַת גְּאֻלָּתֵנוּ תֵּן בְּיָדָם לִנְטֹעַ מֵחָדָשׁ אֶת אֲשֶׁר נֶעֱקַר, לְהַשְׁקוֹת אֶת אֲשֶׁר נָבַל לְמַעַן יִפְרְחוּ וִישַׂגְשְׂגוּ שְׁתִילֵי הַבְטָחוֹת מִקְלָט וְשִׁוְיוֹן, אַל־תִּתֵּן לַמּוֹט רַגְלֵיהֶם, שֶׁלֹא יָנוּמוּ וְלֹא יִישְׁנוּ בָּרֵךְ אוֹתָם׃	A budding redemption,^[3] As in Rabbi Yitsḥak haLevi Hertzog’s “Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel” (1948). help them replant what has been uprooted and tend what has been neglected so the seedling promises of refuge and equality blossom and thrive. May their feet not give way; let them not tire nor slumber nor succumb to fear.^[4] Cf. Psalms 121:3-4.
חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ, אַל־תִּירְאוּ לְמַעַן עָתִיד מְשֻׁתָּף לְכׇל מִי שֶׁהָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת הִיא בֵּיתוֹ׃	Grant strength and courage^[5] Deuteronomy 31:6. — nurture a shared future for all who call the land home.
הָרוֹפֵא לִשְׁבוּרֵי לֵב נְצֹר אֶת תִּקְווֹתֵינוּ עֲזֹר לָנוּ לַחְגֹּג אֶת הַנֵּס בַּהֲקָמַת מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲזֹר לָנוּ לְהִתְאַבֵּל עַל מָה שֶׁאָבַד בְּהַגְשָׁמַת חֲלוֹמֵנוּ׃	Healer of the broken-hearted,^[6] Psalms 147:3. sustain our hope. Help us celebrate what was and is miraculous in Israel’s founding. Help us grieve all that has been lost in the realization of that dream.
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁנִּהְיֶה אֲמִיצִים וְכֵנִים מַסְפִּיק לְהָכִיל אֶת הַשְּׁבָרִים בַּשָׁלֵם׃	May we be strong enough and honest enough to carry the shattered along with the whole.
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁאַהֲבָתֵנוּ וּדְבֵקוּתֵנוּ בַּחֲזוֹן הַנְּבִיאִים תַּעֲמֹדְנָה כִּדְבַשׁ מִסֶּלַע וּכְשֶׁמֶן מֵחַלְמִישׁ צוּר׃	May our love and our commitment to the vision of the Prophets endure like honey from the crag and oil from the flinty rock.^[7] Deuteronomy 32:13.
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לִהְיוֹת שֻׁתָּפִים עִם אֱלֹהִים וְעִם כׇּל תּוֹשָׁבֵיהָ אָרֶץ לְקַיֵּם וּלְהָגֵן עַל שָׁלוֹם וְצֶדֶק וְשִׂמְחַת עוֹלָם׃	May we be partners with the Divine and with all the inhabitants of the land^[8] As underscored in the State of Israel’s Declaration of Independence (1948). in establishing and protecting justice, peace and joy.

The “Prayer for North American Jews on the 75th Anniversary of Israel’s Founding” was first published and disseminated from the website of T’ruah, via PDF here for Yom ha-Atsma’ut in the year 2023.

I have transcribed the text from the PDF, modifying the layout slightly so as to set the Hebrew phrasing side-by-side with its English translation. I have also added some missing niqud and English translation along with notation where citation references are significant. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Prayer for North American Jews on the 75th Anniversary of Israel’s Founding

Prayer for North American Jews on the 75th Anniversary of Israel’s Founding (Ayelet Cohen, Truah 2023)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Cf. the prayer “Hashkivenu,” Cf. Amos 9:11, Cf. Rav Avraham Isaac Kook, Mo’adei HaRe’iyah (Silver from the Land of Israel) p. 97.
2	Cf. Leviticus 25:9-10
3	As in Rabbi Yitsḥak haLevi Hertzog’s “Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel” (1948).
4	Cf. Psalms 121:3-4.
5	Deuteronomy 31:6.
6	Psalms 147:3.
7	Deuteronomy 32:13.
8	As underscored in the State of Israel’s Declaration of Independence (1948).

17 U.S. Code 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

“Prayer on the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the State of Israel for North American Jews, by Rabbi Ayelet Cohen (T’ruah 2023)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under their Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use), in respect to the copyrighted material included. Any additional work that is not already in the Public Domain is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Ayelet Cohen

Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen is Senior Director of the New Israel Fund’s New York/Tri-State Region. Previously, she was Director of The Center for Jewish Living and The David H. Sonabend Center for Israel at The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. She served for 10 years at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBT synagogue serving people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Passionately committed to progressive and feminist Judaism, she is an activist and an advocate for full inclusion and celebration of LGBT Jews in the Jewish world, and an advocate for LGBT civil rights. Rabbi Cohen has been profiled in the New York Times, was named one of the “Heeb 100,” Heeb Magazine’s “hundred people you need to know about,” and was honored at the 2005 Ma’yan Seder as a leading young Jewish feminist activist. She is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly and the New York Board of Rabbis.

T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

Founded 2002, T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, (formerly Rabbis for Human Rights - North America) is a multi-denominational rabbinical organization dedicated to giving voice to the tradition of human rights in Judaism.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "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