מבוסס על תפילות המידות לרבינו נחמן מברסלב, תפילה שיזכה אדם להינצל ממריבות ותפילה שיזכה האדם להיות אוהב שלום ורודף שלום. עריכה וניסוח הרבה תמר אלעד-אפלבום A Prayer for Brotherhood, Unity, and Friendship on Israeli Election Day (2020), based on the Prayer For Freedom from Strife and the Prayer that One Be a Lover and a Pursuer of Peace taken from the Liqutei Tefilot of Reb Nosson of Nemirov (disciple of Rebbe Naḥman of Bratzlav). Edited and reworked by Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum. English Translation by Rabbi Martin S. Cohen. In sharing this prayer, Devora Greenberg, the Director of Rav Siach (Masorti Movement in Israel), wrote,

In five days’ time, the Israeli public will vote for the third time in under a year. It is not our brightest hour, and this unprecedented situation reflects the social turmoil we are undergoing in Israeli society. As in the two previous elections, predictions estimate that the voter turnout will remain around 69% which is considered quite high compared with other democratic states. In the first round of elections, the notion of fulfilling our right to vote and elect our governing leaders instilled a sense of excitement and gratitude; some even recited the blessing of Shehechyanu marking this unique moment. In the second round, I joined a group of leaders and congregants from my community, led by Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum in prayer. We stood outside of the residence of Israeli president Rubi Revlin praying for unity, friendship, and feeling very uneasy by the need to go to the polls once again. None of us imagined we would be called upon to vote yet again so soon after. We are at a time in which we are called to fight the feeling of indifference taking over, we are called to hold on to a sense of civic responsibility and fulfill our right to vote, we must remain נדיבי לב prompting generosity of the heart as described in the opening verse of this week’s Parasha, Trumah. As we go to the polls here in Israel, we urgently ask that you turn to your friends, family and congregants and urge them to take the few minutes necessary to cast a ballot in the World Zionist Congress elections which are taking place now. Vote MERCAZ so we can bring about a vision for an Israel that reflects the values we hold dear. I know many are working hard to help turn out the vote, we are getting close to the finish line, please help us cross it! –Wishing a joyous month of Adar, Devora Greenberg

Source(s)

“תפילה על האיחוי והרעות | A Prayer for Brotherhood, Unity, and Friendship on Israeli Election Day (2020)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Tamar Elad-Appelbaum

Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum is the founder of ZION: An Eretz Israeli Congregation in Jerusalem; and Vice President of the Masorti Rabbinical Assembly. Her work spans and links tradition and innovation, working toward Jewish spiritual and ethical renaissance. She devotes much of her energy to the renewal of community life in Israel and the struggle for human rights. Rabbi Elad-Appelbaum served as rabbi of Congregation Magen Avraham in the Negev; as a congregational rabbi in the New York suburbs alongside Rabbi Gordon Tucker; and as Assistant Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. In 2010 she was named by the Forward as one of the five most influential female religious leaders in Israel for her work promoting pluralism and Jewish religious freedom.

Martin Samuel Cohen

Martin Samuel Cohen was born and raised in New York City, where he received his B.A. summa cum laude from the City University of New York and where he was ordained as rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1978. In addition to his ordination, Rabbi Cohen earned a Ph.D. in the history of ancient Judaism from JTS, which degree was awarded to him in 1982. The recipient of post-doctoral fellowships at the Hebrew University in 1983 and at Harvard University in 1993, Rabbi Cohen has also lectured on the history of religion at Hunter College of the City University of New York and taught Bible and Talmud both at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York and at the Institute for Jewish Studies attached to the University of Heidelberg in Germany. In 1986, Rabbi Cohen left Europe for Canada, where he accepted the pulpit of the Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1999, he left Canada to assume the pulpit of Congregation Eilat in Mission Viejo, California, the position he left in 2002 to become the rabbi of the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn, New York, where he has now completed thirteen years of service. In addition to his work as teacher and rabbi, Rabbi Cohen is an author and has published two scientific studies in the history of pre-kabbalistic Jewish mysticism, four novels and four books of essays, including the Hebrew-language Sefer Ha‘ikarim Livnei Zemanenu, as well as his own 2004 edition of the Book of Psalms, called Our Haven and our Strength: The Book of Psalms in New Translation. More recently, Rabbi Cohen has published the two-volume prayer book Siddur Tzur Yisrael, Zot Nechemati for the house of mourning, a children’s book called Riding the River of Peace, and The Boy on the Door on the Ox, an exploration of the relationship between Torah study and service in the congregational rabbinate. From 1997 to 2000, he served as chairman of the Publications Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and has for the last dozen years chaired the editorial board of the quarterly journal, Conservative Judaism. Most recently, Rabbi Cohen served as senior editor of the 2012 landmark volume defining Conservative Jewish life, The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews, and is currently at work on his own Torah translation and commentary.

Masorti Movement in Israel

HaTenu'ah haMasortit (התנועה המסורתית, the Masorti Movement in Israel) creates opportunities for all Jews to live Jewish lives in Israel unhindered, and on their own terms. It is a religious movement based on values of inclusion combined with traditional practice and Halakha (Jewish Law). Masorti represents a “third” way. Not secular Judaism. Not ultra-Orthodoxy. But a Jewish life that integrates secular beliefs. Halakhah with inclusion and egalitarianism. Tradition that recognizes the realities of today’s world. The Masorti Movement is committed to a pluralistic, egalitarian, and democratic vision of Zionism. Masorti engages tens of thousands of Israelis each year, young and old, native born as well as olim from around the globe.

Works of related interest:

 

תפילה לבוחר טרם הבחירות | A Prayer for Voters Before the Israeli Election, by Rabbi Esteban Gottfried

הכרזת יום הבחירות | Declaration for Israeli Election Day, by Rabbi Oded Mazor

כוונה ליום הבחירות | Kavvanah for Israeli Election Day, by Rabbi Noa Mazor

A Prayer for Today (US Election Day 2020), by Rabbi Shai Held

תפילה ליום הבחירות מאת הרבה | A Prayer for Municipal Election Day [in the State of Israel], by Rabbi Noa Mazor

Prayer while awaiting election returns, by Rabbi Menachem Creditor (2022)

תְּפִלָּה עַל הָעַרְבוּת בְּעַד כׇּל יוֹשְׁבֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | Prayer on Erev Shabbat for the Sake of All Residents of Israel, by Rebbitsen Hadassah Froman & Rabbah Tamar Elad-Appelbaum (2023)

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