תפילה לשלום העם הסורי | Prayer for the Peace of the Syrian People, by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow (2013)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=15291

open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Date: 2017-04-10

Last Updated: 2024-06-01

Categories: War

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Syria, Syrian Civil War, ישראל Yisrael

Excerpt: This prayer for the peace of the Syrian people was composed in 2013 by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow and translated by Elli Sacks of Modi’in. Our Hebrew source of the text was first published in this YNet article. Our source for Elli Sacks's translation is this post in Alan Brill's blog. Rabbi Cherlow suggests that Psalms 37 and Psalms 120 are particularly appropriate for praying for peace in Syria. Both psalms speak of the plight of the innocent righteous when evil men plot against them. Thank you to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for informing us of this prayer, and to YNet, and Alan Brill for providing the source text. . . .


Content:
Source (Hebrew) Translation (English)
ריבונו של עולם,
העושה שלום במרומיו,
Master of the universe,
who makes peace on high
אף שלא הוסמכנו לתקן תפילות –
אין אנו יכולים עוד להביט אל הטבח הנעשה בעולמך
ולא להתפלל על כך;
אף שאנו יודעים כי שני הצדדים במלחמה
הם שופכי דמים פראיים –
אין אנו מסוגלים לשתוק בשעה שנפגעים רבים שהם מחוץ למעגל הלחימה.
Though we are not accustomed to new formal prayers,
we can no longer look at the slaughter taking place in Your world
and fail to pray about it.
Though we know that both sides in the war
are guilty of wanton bloodshed,
we are unable to keep silent when so many who are beyond the circle of conflict have fallen victim.
אנו פונים אליך בתפילה
כי תעורר ברוצחים את האנושיות הפשוטה
ואת מידת הרחמים,
את ההכרה כי כולנו נבראנו בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים
וכי גם למידת האכזריות יש גבולות,
ותופיע בעולם את מה שכתבת בתורתך
״שֹׁפֵךְ דַּם הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם דָּמוֹ יִשָּׁפֵךְ כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאָדָם׃״ (בראשית ט:ו)
We beseech You in prayer
to arouse in the killers their basic humanity
and evoke mercy in their hearts,
that they may recognize that we are all created in the image of God,
and that there are limits even to human cruelty.
May You bring to pass what is written in Your Torah:
“He who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood shall be shed, for in God’s image was man created.”[1] Genesis 9:6 
שלח בנו גם את התבונה לדעת
מה לעשות בשעה הקשה הזו,
בו שוב מתגלה הצד האפל שביצרם הרע של בני אדם,
ואין אנו יודעים מה מוטל עלינו מול מציאות מרה זו;
שלח בנו את היכולת לפעול ככל יכולתנו
כדי למנוע שפיכות שמים בעולם,
ובמיוחד בארץ הקדושה והרחבה,
עליה כתבת בתורתך
״וְלֹא תַחֲנִיפוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּהּ כִּי הַדָּם הוּא יַחֲנִיף אֶת הָאָרֶץ,
וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא יְכֻפַּר לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ בָּהּ
כִּי אִם בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ׃״ (במדבר לה:לג)
Grant us the wisdom to know
how to act in this hour of distress,
when the dark face of humanity’s evil inclination is once again fully exposed
and we are unsure how to stand against it.
Enable us to act with all our energies
to prevent bloodshed in Your world,
above all in the Holy Land and its environs,
as it is written in Your Torah:
“You shall not pollute the land where you are for blood pollutes the land;
and the land will not expiate the blood shed upon it,
but with the blood of he that shed it.”[2] Numbers 35:33 
עושה שלום במרומיו,
הוא יעשה שלום עלינו,
ועל כל ישראל,
ואמרו אמן.
May God who makes peace on high,
make peace upon us
and upon all Israel,
and let us say amen.

This prayer for the peace of the Syrian people was composed in 2013 by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow and translated by Elli Sacks of Modi’in. Our Hebrew source of the text was first published in this YNet article. Our source for Elli Sacks’s translation is this post in Alan Brill’s blog. Rabbi Cherlow suggests that Psalms 37 and Psalms 120 are particularly appropriate for praying for peace in Syria. Both psalms speak of the plight of the innocent righteous when evil men plot against them. Thank you to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for informing us of this prayer, and to YNet, and Alan Brill for providing the source text.

Notes

Notes
1 Genesis 9:6
2 Numbers 35:33

Contributor: Elli Sacks

Co-authors:

Featured Image:
Bombed_out_vehicles_Aleppo
Title: Bombed_out_vehicles_Aleppo
Caption: "Bombed out vehicles Aleppo during the Syrian civil war." (credit: Voice of America News: Scott Bobb reports from Aleppo, Syria; license: PD)