תפילה להצבעה | A Prayer on Voting, by Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson (T’ruah 2016)

Contributor(s):

T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and Lev Meirowitz Nelson

Shared on:

7 November 2016 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Elections & Voting, Election Day

Tags:

democracy, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., United States General Election 2016, civic prayers, United States, voting

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Hebrew	English
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ, בָּעֵת הַזֹּאת זְמַן בְּחִירוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁתָּדְרִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם.	May it be Your will, at this season of our election, to guide us towards peace.
בְּהַצְבָּעָתֵנוּ, אָנוּ מִתְחַיְּבִים לֶהֱיוֹתֵנוּ בְּנֵי הָאֲגוּדָּה, לְקַבָּלַת עוֹל אַחֲרָיוּתֵנוּ לְטוֹבַת הַצִּיבּוּר.	By voting, we commit to being full members of society, to accepting our individual responsibility for the good of the whole.
שׁוֹפְטִים וְשׁוֹטְרִים נִתֵן לָנוּ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֵינוּ… וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפָּט צֵדֶק, (דברים טז:יח) וְנִזְכֶּה לְהִמָּנוֹת בְּתוֹךְ “כָּל מֵי שֶׁעוֹסְקִים בְּצָרְכֵי צִיבּוּר בֶּאֱמוּנָה.”	May we place over ourselves officials in all our gates… who will judge the people with righteousness,^[1] Deuteronomy 16:18. and may we all merit to be counted among all those who work faithfully for the public good.
פְּקַח עֵינֵינוּ לִרְאוֹת כָּל מָעֳמָד וְמָעֳמָד וְכָל שַׂר וְיוֹעֶצֶת כִּי הֵם נִבְרְאוּ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים, וּפְקַח עֵינֵיהֶם שֶׁיַּרְאוּ שֶׁכָּל יוֹשְׁבַי תֵּבֵל נִבְרְאוּ גַּם הֵם בַּצֶּלֶם.	Open our eyes to see in all candidates and elected officials, the image of God and may they see in all citizens of the earth, the image of God
אָמֵץ אֶת לְבָבֵינוּ לִשְׁמוֹר מִצְוַת “וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ”, (ויקרא יט:יח) וְתֵן בּלִבֵּינוּ לְהָבִין אֶת אֵלּוּ הַחוֹלְקִים עָלִינוּ.	Grant us the courage to fulfill the mitsvah of loving our neighbors as ourselves, (Leviticus 19:18) and place in our hearts the wisdom to understand those who do not share our views.
כַּכָּתוּב בִּתְפִילַּת יוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן, “וְיַעֲשׂוּ כּוּלָּם אֲגוּדָּה אַחַת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם,”	As we pray on the High Holidays, “May we become a united society,^[2] Cf. Pesikta D’Rav Kahanna.27.9. fulfilling the divine purpose with a whole heart.”^[3] Cf. Sotah 40a.11 and Berakhot 17a:2. ^[4] From the Modim (thanksgiving) liturgy of the Rosh haShanah Amidah.
וְכָּכָּתוב עַל יְדֵי דָּוִד עַבְדְּךָ, “יְהִי שָׁלוֹם בְּחֵילֵךְ, שַׁלְוָה בְּאַרְמְנוֹתָיִךְ. לְמַעַן אַחַי וְרֵעָי אֲדַבְּרָה נָּא שָׁלוֹם בָּךְ.” (תהלים קכב:ז-ח)	And as the Psalmist sang, “May there be shalom within your walls, peace in your strongholds. For the sake of my brothers and sisters and friends, I will speak peace to you.”^[5] Psalms 122:7-8.

T’ruah’s “Meditation on Voting” was composed by their director of education, Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson, with input from Rabbi Jill Jacobs and Itamar Haritan. It was first published and distributed via email.

Rabbi Nelson writes,

On Tuesday, we go to the polls in a momentous election that for many of us has generated a combination of anxiety, excitement, fear, and confusion. We offer you this prayer, which you can recite this Shabbat, before you vote, or while you are waiting for returns. The text of the prayer is below, and you can download a printable version here.
Wishing you all a peaceful Shabbat. Thank you for your partnership in building a more loving and just country and world.
Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson
Director of Education, T’ruah

Source

Click to access A-Meditation-on-Voting-Truah-2016-CC-BY-SA.pdf

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Deuteronomy 16:18.
2	Cf. Pesikta D’Rav Kahanna.27.9.
3	Cf. Sotah 40a.11 and Berakhot 17a:2.
4	From the Modim (thanksgiving) liturgy of the Rosh haShanah Amidah.
5	Psalms 122:7-8.

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“תפילה להצבעה | A Prayer on Voting, by Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson (T’ruah 2016)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

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.

Lev Meirowitz Nelson

Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson is the Director of Rabbinic Training for T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. Lev was ordained in 2013 from Hebrew College, where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. In 2017, Lev was honored by the Covenant Foundation with a Pomegranate Prize, which recognizes early-career Jewish educators. Before attending rabbinical school, Lev taught fifth grade at the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan for three years and worked for many summers at URJ Eisner Camp. He holds an AB in Geology from Brown University and spent a post-baccalaureate semester at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, where conservation and sustainable development are approached in the context of Arab-Israeli peace efforts.

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1 comment to תפילה להצבעה | A Prayer on Voting, by Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson (T’ruah 2016)

Dede
2016-11-08 at 11:29 am · Reply.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful and inspiring prayer. May we all go from strength to strength

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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