תפילת המדינה | Prayer for the State [of Israel], by S.Y. Agnon (1948)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=17675

Date: 2017-10-09

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: 🇮🇱 Medinat Yisra'el (the State of Israel)

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Zionist Prayers, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Needing Vocalization

Excerpt: In September 1948, while editing Rabbi Yitshak haLevi Hertzog's new Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel, S.Y. Agnon (1888-1970) drafted this adaptation. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אבינו שבשמים, השקיפה ממעון קדשך וברך את מדינת ישראל, ראשית גאולתנו.	Our father in Heaven, observe from your holy abode and bless the State of Israel, the beginning of our redemption.
הגן עליה באברת חסדך ופרוס עליה סכת שלומך, שלח אורכה ואמיתך לראשיה, שריה ויועציה, ותקנם בעצה טובה מלפניך.	Shield it beneath the wings of your lovingkindness and spread over it your Sukkah of peace. Send your light and your truth to its leaders, officers, and counselors, and correct them with your good counsel.
שומר ישראל חזק את ידי מגיני ישראל וזר נצחון תעטרם.	Guard Israel. Strengthen the position of the defenders of Israel and crown them with a wreath of victory.
ברך את עמך ישראל בארץ ובתפוצות. צורנו וגואלנו אסף נא פזורינו ונדחינו לציון משכן כבודך.	Bless your people Yisra’el in the Land and in the Diaspora; our fortress and redeemer — please gather our dispersed and rejected to Tsiyon, your resplendent sanctuary.
מהרה יאמנו דברי נביאך לישראל עם קדשך וּלְכׇּל יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵּבֵל אַרְצֶךָ, ככתוב בדברי קדשך, אמן ואמן.	Speedily may we realize the words of your prophet to Yisra’el with your holiness and to all inhabitants of Earth,[1] Cf. the qedusha for the Yamim Noraim. “והופע בהדר גאון עוזך על כל יושבי תבל ארצך”  as it is written in your holy declaration, Amen and Amen.

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In September 1948, while editing Rabbi Yitshak haLevi Hertzog’s new “Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel,” S.Y. Agnon (1888-1970) drafted this shorter adaptation of Hertzog’s work with notable differences.

Transcription Source

S.Y. Agnon’s version based upon R’ Herzog’s Tefilah l’shalom Medinat Yisrael

Notes

Notes

1	Cf. the qedusha for the Yamim Noraim. “והופע בהדר גאון עוזך על כל יושבי תבל ארצך”

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (translation)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Shmuel Yosef Agnon
  Bio: Shmuel Yosef Agnon שמואל יוסף עגנון‎ (also, Shai Agnon or S. Y. Agnon ש"י עגנון) (July 17, 1888 – February 17, 1970) was a Nobel Prize laureate writer and one of the central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. Agnon was born in Polish Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and later immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, and died in Jerusalem, Israel. His works deal with the conflict between the traditional Jewish life and language and the modern world. They also attempt to recapture the fading traditions of the Yiddish shtetl. In a wider context, he also contributed to broadening the characteristic conception of the narrator's role in literature. Agnon shared the Nobel Prize with the poet Nelly Sachs in 1966.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_Yosef_Agnon
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/shmuel-yosef-agnon
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (translation)
  Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer translator for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his translations, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot Naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also transcribes prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes for the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-translation

Featured Image:

Title: Prayer_for_the_Welfare_of_the_State_of_Israel_Agnon_envelope
Caption: S.Y. Agnon's version based upon R' Herzog's Tefilah l'shalom Medinat Yisrael