A prayer for peace adapted from the texts of the prayers for peace found in the Sim Shalom (1985) and Lev Shalem (2016) siddurim of the Rabbinical Assembly. This prayer was shared in an interfaith setting the day before the massacre of Muslim worshipers during Jumu’ah in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2015. The text of the prayer was afterward posted to Rabbi Hillel’s Facebook page, writing:

Yesterday [14 March 2019] I was honoured to open freedom fighter [2011 Nobel Prize winner] Leymah Gbowee’s talk in Hamilton, Canada by reading this prayer for universal peace. Today I wake up to the news of #nzmosqueshooting. As General Leymah said, no matter what religion or ethnicity, if you cut us, we all bleed the same colour blood. Let there be peace and security!

Source(s)

The prayer for peace appearing in Siddur Sim Shalom is adapted from the Prayer for Peace found in Reb Nosson Sternhartz of Nemirov’s adaptation of the teachings of Rebbe Nahman of Bratzlav in Likkutei Tefillot. “Page 417: Prayer for Peace . . . Adapted and translated from the Hebrew of Rabbi Nathan Sternhartz (1780-1845), Ukraine, from Likutei Tefillot, part two, 53.”

Prayer for Peace (Sim Shalom p.416-417) adapted from Reb Nosson Sternhartz, Likutei Tefilot II-53

Prayer for Peace (Lev Shalem 2016, p.178)

Prayer for Peace in Hebrew (Lev Shalem 2016)

“Prayer for Universal Peace, by Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraëli (2019)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

R' Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli

Hillel Lavery-Yisraëli is the rabbi of Israel Center of Conservative Judaism in Queens, New York. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he did most of his rabbinical training in Jerusalem. He lived in Israel for 16 years, during which time he taught at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and served as the rabbi of Conservative Congregation Beit Israel in Netanya. From 2012-2015 he served as chief rabbi of Gothenburg, Sweden. Until August 2022, he served as the rabbi of Beth Jacob Synagogue in Hamilton, Canada. In keeping with his position as rabbi, he is an activist for human rights, women’s rights, anti-racism, 2S LGBTQIA+ rights and basic income. He has authored numerous articles, some of which can be seen here and here. Click here to watch his lecture, "Gender, Sexuality and Identity in the Jewish Tradition". More of his instructional videos can be found on youtube here and here. Rabbi Hillel is married to Yonah who is also a rabbi, a soferet and an artist. He is the proud father of four children.

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An image of the text of the universal prayer for peace given by Rabbi Hillel Yisraeli-Lavery, as shared on Facebook.

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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

Works of related interest:

 

💬 Universal Declaration of Human Rights | אַלװעלטלעכע דעקלאַראַציע פֿון מענטשנרעכט | הַכְרָזָה לְכׇל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם בִּדְבַר זְכֻיוֹת הָאָדָם | Deklarasion Universal de Derechos Umanos (1948)

Prayer for the Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls, by Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraëli (2014)

📖 שירון וברכון לחנוכה | Shiron u’Virkon la’Ḥanukkah, by Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraëli (2016)

📖 תְּפִלּוֹת לְמַֽעֲן יִשְׂרָאֵל, נֶֽגֶד מַתְקֵפוֹת, וּלְזִכְרָם שֶׁל הַנִּרְצָחִים | Prayers for Israel, for Protection from Terror Attacks, and In Memory of the Victims, by Rabbi Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli (2023)

תְּפִלָּה לְהַצָּלָה מִפִּגּוּעֵי טֶרוֹר | Prayer for Rescue from Terror Attacks | Bön om skydd från terrorhot, by R’ Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli (2014)

A Story of the World (for the Avodah Service on Yom Kippur) by R’ Yonah Lavery-Yisraeli

תְּפִלָּה בְּעַד מֶמְשֶׁלֶת שָׁלוֹם | Prayer for a Government of Peace, by Zackary Sholem Berger (2019)

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