תפילה לישראל | A Prayer for Israel, by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman (2013)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=31267

Date: 2020-04-28

Last Updated: 2024-06-01

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

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Hebrew translation, Liberal Zionist Prayers, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Needing Proofreading

Excerpt: A prayer for Israel which reserves the right to criticize its moral failings. . . .

Content:

Translation (Hebrew)	Source (English)
אֱלֹהִים, אָנוּ אוֹהֲבִים אֶת מְדִינָת יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבְכֵן מִתְפַּלְּלִים אָנוּ לְאֹמֶץ לֵב לָרִיב אִתָּהּ, כְּשֶׁרָבוּ נְבִיאֵי קֶדֶם, וּכְשֶׁרָבִים כׇּל יִשְׁרֵי לֵב בְּיָמֵינוּ.	O God, we love this country, and because we love it, we pray for the courage to quarrel with it, as did the prophets of old, and as do the people of conscience today.
טַע בְּלִבֵּנוּ אֹמֶץ לְהַצְלִיחַ נֶגֶד עוֹבְדֵי פֶסֶל הָאוֹמְרִים ”מְדִינָתִי כַּצַדֶקֶת כָּרְשָׁעָה,“ וְלֹא אוֹמְרִים, ”מְדִינָתִי כְּשֶׁהִיא צֹדֶקֶת, מְדִינָתִי — לְתַקְנָה כְּשֶׁהִיא רְשָׁעָה.“	Give us the courage to quarrel with the idolaters who say: “My country, right or wrong,” instead of saying: “My country, when it is right. My country— to be made right whenever it is wrong.”
וּבְכֵן [יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְפָנֶיךָ]  שֶׁנַּצְמִיח בָּעוֹלָם עוֹד קְצַת אֱמֶת עוֹד קְצַת צֶדֶק וְעוֹד קְצַת אַהֲבָה מִמַּה שֶּׁהָיֹה יִהְיֶה לוּלֵא אָהַבְנוּ אֶת הָעוֹלָם מַסְפִּיק לָרִיב אִתּוֹ מִתּוֹךְ חָזוֹן שֶׁל־עוֹלָם מְתוּקָּן.	May [it be your will]  that we bring into this world a bit more truth a bit more justice and a bit more love than there would have been if we had not loved the world enough to quarrel with it— out of a vision of what it ought to be.
יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂי יָדֵינוּ לְפָנֶיךָ, ה׳ אֲשֶׁר רִיב־הָאוֹהֲבִים שֶׁלְךָ עִם הָעוֹלָם הוּא סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדוֹת הָאָדָם כִּי אַתָּה מְּחַיֶּה אֶת צִיּוֹן וְאֶת כׇּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּשְׁכִינַתְכֶם׃ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ הַמַּחֲזִיר שְׁכִינָתוֹ לְצִיוֹן.	May our prayers and our deeds be pleasing to you, O God, whose lover’s quarrel with the world is the history of humanity.[1] cf. Genesis 5:1.   [For] Your presence gives life to Zion and all Israel. Blessed are you, God, [who restores Their Shekhinah to Tsiyyon.][2] from the blessing “Retsei” in the Amidah.

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This Prayer for Israel was composed in English by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman. Hebrew translation offered by Rabbi David Nelson and shared together for a Human Rights Shabbat by T’ruah in 2013. Many thanks to Baruch Sienna and the Open Siddur Project community for their help in correcting the niqqud in Rabbi Nelson’s Hebrew translation. We also worked to improve his Hebrew translation which ultimately led to several additions to the English source [in brackets], especially in the ḥatimah. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

 

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Notes[+]

Notes

1	cf. Genesis 5:1.
2	from the blessing “Retsei” in the Amidah.

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)
  Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, 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 translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady
• 
  Name: David W. Nelson (translation)
  Bio: Rabbi David W. Nelson has taught in a wide range of venues, and, following the 2005 publication of his Judaism, Physics and God: Searching for Sacred Metaphors in a Post-Einstein World, has focused increasingly on issues of science and religion. BA from Wesleyan University, Master' Degree and Rabbinic Ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, PhD from New York University. His rabbinic experience has included five years in a small congregation, fifteen years at CLAL, a think-tank and center for leadership education, five years in a community center, and three years as the primary writer and teacher for the Reform Movement's Israel organization.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/david-nelson
• 
  Name: Lawrence A. Hoffman
  Bio: Lawrence A. Hoffman (born 1942) is an American Reform rabbi and a prominent scholar of Jewish liturgy. Hoffman is a Professor of Liturgy at Hebrew Union College in New York City. He is a prolific author, with two separate books to his name that are used as liturgical guides. His writing examines means of improving the quality of praying for secular Jews. He has explored issues of liturgical change, but is most interested in the "community at prayer"—human and divine relationships in prayer. Hoffman is co-founder and "intellectual visionary" of the Synagogue 3000 institute, an independent non-profit based in Los Angeles which runs leadership-training programs and directs the rituals of more than 100 synagogues across North America.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_A._Hoffman
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/lawrence-hoffman
• 
  Name: T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
  Bio: 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.
  Website: http://truah.org
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/truah

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Title: 1024px-Construction_sheet_of_Flag_of_Israel_Equilateral_Magen_David.svg
Caption: A construction sheet of the Flag of Israel. (credit: Glide08, license: CC BY-SA)