A Prayer for Democracies Everywhere with the Welfare of Ukraine Foremost in Mind, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org, 2022)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=42872

open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license date_src_start: 2022-02-25 date_src_end: 2022-02-25 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"},{"name":"Hebrew","code":"heb","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"},{"name":"Hebrew (Ktav Ashuri)","code":"Hebr","standard":"ISO 15924"}]

Date: 2022-02-25

Last Updated: 2025-04-25

Categories: Government & Country, 🌐 Day of Democracy (September 15th), 🇺🇦 Ukraine

Tags: 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., democracy

Excerpt: A prayer for democracy everywhere, with Ukraine foremost in mind. . . .

Content:
A prayer for democracy everywhere, that it may not fall or fail, with Israel, Ukraine and U.S. foremost in mind. May we gain inspiration and power from the mass movement to protect Israeli democracy and an independent judiciary, and may all Israel realize that occupation is inimical to democracy:
Source (Hebrew) Source (English)
תְעַקֵּר רוֹדָנוּת וְטִירוּנִיָא וָעָרִיצוּת
וּתְשַׁבֵּר רַמַאִים
וּתְמַגֵּר עֹשְׁקֵי נִדְכָּאִים
תַעֲבִיר מֶמְשֶׁלֶת זָדוֹן מִן הָאָרֶץ
תַּכְשִׁיל פּוֹגְעִים בְּדֵמוֹקרָטִיָה
וְתָּפֵר תַחְבּוּלוֹתָם
תְכַלֵּם
וְתַשְׁפִּילֵם
וְתַכְנִיעֵם
בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ
כִּי מַכְנִֽיעַ זֵדִים אַתָּה
May You tear out autocracy, tyranny and despotism,
rend the power of those who cheat and deceive,
and upend those who oppress the vulnerable.
Make the reign of the arrogant disappear from all lands.
May the people attacking democracies everywhere stumble and fail,
and may their plans be as nought.
Stop them,
humble them,
bring on their downfall,
soon, in our days,
for You humble the arrogant.
וְכֵן תִּתֵּן לְכָל אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם
הָכֹּחַ וְהַרָצוֹן לִרְדֹף צֶדֶק
וּלְכוֹנֵן מִשְׁפָּט
וּלְבַקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם כְּאַגֻדָה אַחַת
לֲעַקֹר חָמָס
וּלְהַצְמִיחַ רְפוּאָה וְחַיִים טוֹבִים וְשָׁלוֹם
כִּי אַתָּה הוּא מֶֽלֶךְ אֹהֵב צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט
(וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן)
May You give to all the peoples of the world
the strength and will to pursue righteousness
and establish justice,
and to seek peace as a unified force,
so that violence be uprooted,
and healing, good life and peace may flourish,
for You are the Ruler who loves righteousness and justice.
(And let us say: Amen.)
May God protect Volodymyr Zelenskyy[1] Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy[a] (Ukrainian: Володимир Олександрович Зеленський, pronounced [woloˈdɪmɪr olekˈsɑndrowɪdʒ zeˈlɛnʲsʲkɪj]; born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician, former actor and comedian who began serving as the president of Ukraine in 2019.  
and let his country triumph over Russian imperialism.

This prayer is based on a prayer before voting (also by Rabbi Seidenberg). The sections adapted for this prayer here derive directly from supplements added during the 2020 Presidential election, when Donald Trump sought re-election. The anti-democratic orientation of Trump’s presidency had by then become widely apparent. This prayer was last updated on 26 July 2023.

A pdf of this prayer with Hebrew and English may be downloaded directly from neohasid.org.

 

Notes

Notes
1 Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy[a] (Ukrainian: Володимир Олександрович Зеленський, pronounced [woloˈdɪmɪr olekˈsɑndrowɪdʒ zeˈlɛnʲsʲkɪj]; born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician, former actor and comedian who began serving as the president of Ukraine in 2019.

Contributor: David Seidenberg

Co-authors:

Featured Image:
Ukaine Monument of Independence in Kiev on 5 August 2017 (Andreas Wolochow)
Title: Ukaine Monument of Independence in Kiev on 5 August 2017 (Andreas Wolochow)
Caption: Ukaine Monument of Independence in Kiev on 5 August 2017 (Andreas Wolochow)