American Jewish author writes prayer for life after the elections
Jews pray for the prosperity of their country because they are "inextricably linked to its fate.
By CELIA JEANThe backdrop of the stage at last year’s AIPAC conference in Washington, DC(photo credit: REUTERS)
Jewish American author Dr. Erica Brown, who writes on ethics, Judaism, spirituality and leadership, wrote a prayer for life after the United States presidential elections, in addition to commentary which explains why a key factor of Judaism is to pray for the welfare of one's country, published on e-Jewish Philanthropy. The prayer focuses on rebuilding unity after the election and reducing violence."I pray for the equanimity to accept whatever the election result is. I pray that there will be no violence as a result of this election," the prayer begins.The prayer continues and focuses on key social issues relevant to today's world ranging from ones that affect everyone, to issues specific to Jewish society.In one line of the prayer, Brown says that she prays for "for an end to gratuitously mean arguments among strangers and friends on Facebook."In another line she asks for the decline in antisemitism, which among other global tensions in 2020 has been on a constant rise.Brown also focuses on unity among people belong to different political demographics in addition to overcoming the election exhaustion in return for growth in curiosity and energy to feed back into important life focuses such as family and career.The commentary claims that while politics may serve in place of religion in contemporary times, Judaism not still exists, but a key factor of the religion is to care about the welfare of the country in which a Jew resides.It begins by a quoting a column written by Peggy Noonon in the Wall Street Journal which claims that for many in contemporary times politics functions as a replacement for religion. Politics includes officials to look up to, communities to be a part of, provides a source of "inspiration and passion," and can be taken to "extremes and lead to harmful judgements," Brown said citing the WSJ column.Brown moved on to say that "in this climate, we need to remind ourselves that we already have a religion."
She then uses a quote from the book of Jeremiah in addition to a number of other historical examples to claim that a significant part of Judaism is to care about the government. "We prosper when our country prospers, no matter when or where we live," Brown wrote.“Seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the Lord in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper,” Jeremiah (29:7).Other examples include the German Jews in the 1930s prayed for their Fatherland in the Sephat Emeth Siddur, "which we read today with the desperate sadness of hindsight," Brown said.In addition, Brown used the example of Menasseh ben Israel who wrote “The Prayer for the Safety of Kings, Princes and Commonwealths,” to Oliver Cromwell in 1655, and Hendla Jochanan van Oettingen in 1784 to compose the “Prayer for the Welfare of George Washington, George Clinton, and the Thirteen States of America."Although the prayers are different throughout time, the common theme is that Jews pray for the prosperity of their country because they are "inextricably linked to its fate," Brown said.
