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This version of the Aleinu recognizes that all nations play a role in God’s plan for humanity. It offers an alternative to the traditionally particularist liturgy, “שֶׁלֹּא עָשָֽׂנוּ כְּגוֹיֵי הָאֲרָצוֹת וְלֹא שָׂמָֽנוּ כְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאֲדָמָה: שֶׁלֹּא שָׂם חֶלְקֵֽנוּ כָּהֶם וְגֹרָלֵֽנוּ כְּכָל הֲמוֹנָם: (“since God has not made us like the nations of other lands, and has not placed us like other families of the earth, since God has not assigned for us a portion as for them, nor a lot as unto all their multitude”). — Aharon Varady
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| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּֽחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל לָתֵת גְּדֻלָּה לְיוֹצֵר בְּרֵאשִׁית, שֶׁהוּא עָשָׂה גוֹיִם רַבִּים וְכוּלָם חֲפֵצִים לְהַבְחִין בִּדְרָכָיו, וְנָתַן לָנוּ גּוֹרָל מְיוּחָד שֶׁגִלָּה לָנוּ אֶת מִשְׁפָּטָיו׃ וַאַנָחְנוּ כּוֹרְעִים… |
It is up to us to praise the Foundation of all, to attribute greatness to the One who formed creation, who made many nations, all of whom seek to perceive God’s ways, and who gave to us a unique destiny by revealing to us Divine laws. |
“עלינו | An Alternative Opening for Aleinu, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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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
I’m not sure there’s a connection between Israel’s ritual laws, beyn adam lamakom, (be they divine or man made) and its destiny; as for beyn adam lahavero, I prefer to see us as partners with all of humanity. In other words, I don’t resonate to the particularism of Alenu, something Zalman achieves by reading the “lo”s of the Alenu (shelo asanu, etc.) with a vav instead of with an aleph
interesting aleinu really