Revised Prayer for our Country and for the Final Redemption - Adar 5784/2024

New prayer for the secular government, to replace the OU's prayer for the safety of the American military and the USCJ's "prayer for our country" found in its Lev Shalem Siddur, taking the latter as a template. We pray for fulfillment of Isaiah 2:2-3 "come let us ascend", and Jeremiah 29: "build houses and dwell in them", and remove the prayer for Isaiah 2:4 "nation shall not lift up sword against nation" into the separate prayer for Israel and for final redemption. May God save America from its own pride and hubris, and save American Jews from their avodah zarah of false messianism and faux-patriotic jingoism.

This proposal removes the false messianism and anti-zionism from the prayers for America found in the Conservative and Orthodox siddurs. Based on the "Prayer for Our Country in the Lev Shalem Siddur of the Rabbinic Assemblies of Conservative Judaism, the prayer below corrects its ethical and political error of false messianism: the suggestion that America is the promised land and that progressive liberals are the chosen people, misapplying Hebrew prophecy to support the religious pragmatism, which is still based on supersessionist replacement theology. A similar mis-appropriation of hebrew prophecy is found in the Orthodox Union's prayer for the safety (and victory) of the American military, which was falsely assigned the messianic role of "protecting all of creation" and "abolishing every rule of evil". This subtle form of anti-Zionism is 400-years old, and its that on which Massachusetts Bay was settled and the U.S. founded as a "city on a hill which cannot be hidden", which is itself based on the 1,700+ year old anti-Zionism and anti-Judaism on which orthodox catholic christianity - "the spiritual Israel" - was based and in which Palestinian political identity is rooted. If you want the campus intifada to stop, then repent and renounce this apostasy and pray the following prayer instead:

Our God and God of our ancestors with mercy accept our prayer on behalf of ourfor this country of our exile and for its government. Pour out Your blessing upon this land, upon its inhabitants, upon its leaders, judges, officers, officials, and teachers who faithfully devote themselves to the needs of the public. Helpthemand us to all understand and apply the universal rules of equal justice under law which You have decreed in in the covenant made with Noah and his offspring, so that peace and security, happiness and freedom, will never depart frombecome established in this land and not depart.

Adonai, God of Adam and Eve, of Noah and his sons, and of Abraham the father of faith, God who created the heavens and the earth and whose spirit is ingives life to all creatures, we pray that Your spirit be awakened within all the inhabitants of our land. Uproot from our hearts and cultures baseless hatred and malice, idolatry and moralperversion, jealousy and strife. Teach righteousness and justice, plant love and companionship, and cultivate peace and friendship among the many peoples and faiths who dwell in our nation. Grant us the knowledge to judge justly, the wisdom to act with compassion, the art and science to sustainably develop agriculture and industry, and the understanding and courage to root outalleviate poverty fromand bring prosperity to our land.

May it be Your will that ourthis land be a blessing to all who dwell on earthits citizens and indigenous nations, it's neighbors and allies,and all who come here to work, study, sojourn, immigrate, or seek temporary asylum. [Speedily fulfill the vision of Your prophets and put in the hearts the many peoples in this land to say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of the LORD, To the House of the God of Jacob; That He may instruct us in His ways, And that we may walk in His paths. For instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of the LORD from Jerusalem.": “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. For all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall know Me.”] May your rainbow again become a sign of the covenant you made with all flesh, and mayyou cause all peoples on earth to dwell in friendship and freedom. And in the meantime may our local Jewish communityhear and fulfill your decree:

ירמיהו כ״ט:ד׳-ז׳

(ד) כֹּ֥ה אָמַ֛ר יי צְבָא֖וֹת אֱלֹקֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לְכׇ֨ל־הַגּוֹלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־הִגְלֵ֥יתִי מִירוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם בָּבֶֽלָה׃(ה) בְּנ֥וּ בָתִּ֖ים וְשֵׁ֑בוּ וְנִטְע֣וּ גַנּ֔וֹת וְאִכְל֖וּ אֶת־פִּרְיָֽן׃(ו) קְח֣וּ נָשִׁ֗ים וְהוֹלִ֘ידוּ֮ בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנוֹת֒ וּקְח֨וּ לִבְנֵיכֶ֜ם נָשִׁ֗ים וְאֶת־בְּנֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ תְּנ֣וּ לַאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְתֵלַ֖דְנָה בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנ֑וֹת וּרְבוּ־שָׁ֖ם וְאַל־תִּמְעָֽטוּ׃(ז) וְדִרְשׁ֞וּ אֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הָעִ֗יר אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגְלֵ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ שָׁ֔מָּה וְהִתְפַּֽלְל֥וּ בַעֲדָ֖הּ אֶל־יי כִּ֣י בִשְׁלוֹמָ֔הּ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם שָׁלֽוֹם׃

Jeremiah 29:4-7

(4) Thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, to the whole community which I exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon:(5) Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit.(6) Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, do not decrease.(7) And 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.

PRAYER for FINAL REDEMPTION after PRAYER for the STATE of ISRAEL

Having removed Isaiah 2:4 from the prayer for America, it is now included in this updated version of the Prayer for the State of Israel (5783), which is where it rightly belongs according to the plain meaning of the text. Included here for reference

חזק עמך ישראל רוחני, היושבת בגלות, להיות "ממלכת כהנים" ו"גוי קדוש", ויאירו אור התרה ולמד את הברית הנוחי.

Raise your hand to the nations,

And speedily fulfill the vision of Your prophets:

ישעיהו ב׳:ג׳

(ג) וְֽהָלְכ֞וּ עַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים וְאָֽמְרוּ֙ לְכ֣וּ ׀ וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה אֶל־הַר־יי אֶל־בֵּית֙ אֱלֹקֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְיֹרֵ֙נוּ֙ מִדְּרָכָ֔יו וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּאֹרְחֹתָ֑יו כִּ֤י מִצִּיּוֹן֙ תֵּצֵ֣א תוֹרָ֔ה וּדְבַר־יי מִירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

Isaiah 2:3

(3) And the many peoples shall go and say:
“Come,
Let us go up to the Mount of the LORD,
To the House of the God of Jacob;
That He may instruct us in His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For instruction shall come forth from Zion,
The word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Encourage your people who faithfully keep your law while dwelling in exile to fulfill their role as a "kingdom of priests" and a "holy nation", by bearing the light of Torah and teaching the Noahide covenant to the God-fearing gentiles and spiritual seekers of the land who come in good-faith to learn, and may the rainbow again become known as a sign of the covenant and redemption for all the sons and daughters of Naoh. Speedily fulfill the vision of your prophet:

ישעיהו ב׳:ד׳

(ד) וְשָׁפַט֙ בֵּ֣ין הַגּוֹיִ֔ם וְהוֹכִ֖יחַ לְעַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וְכִתְּת֨וּ חַרְבוֹתָ֜ם לְאִתִּ֗ים וַחֲנִיתֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ לְמַזְמֵר֔וֹת לֹא־יִשָּׂ֨א ג֤וֹי אֶל־גּוֹי֙ חֶ֔רֶב וְלֹֽא־יִלְמְד֥וּ ע֖וֹד מִלְחָמָֽה׃ {פ}

Isaiah 2:4

(4) Thus He will judge among the nations
And arbitrate for the many peoples,
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks:
Nation shall not take up
Sword against nation;
They shall never again know war.

May the God-fearing gentiles see the good deeds of your people, and give thanks to you, our Father in heaven. As it is written: "Rejoice O nations, with his people" (Deut 32:43) and again "Praise the LORD all you nations, praise him all you peoples" (Psalm 117:1)

Then continue with your customary liturgy.
Consider also this Prayer for forgiveness after confession and renunciation of seeking deliverance from U.S. and foreign militaries.

An earlier version, for the record: Prayers for the Government, for Redemption, and for Diaspora Jewry - Elul 5782/2022 especially the POLITICAL COMMENTARY AND ARGUMENT.
This argument is now repeatedly emphasized below:

ETHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT against the FOREIGN IDOLATRY of SECULAR NATIONALISM

The Rabbinic Assemblies of Conservative Judaism have a "Prayer for Our Country in the Lev Shalem Siddur", which is also offered in the christian dominionist tradition of replacement theology and supercessionism: assuming that America is the Promised Land, the light of the world, the "city on a hill which cannot be hidden", as American politicians are fond of saying, misapplying a figure from Joschka's sermon on the Mount.

These will not succeed in fulfilling the work of tikkun olam behalf of American Jews, who should stop praying for it.

The Orthodox Union's prayer for the safety of the American military, assigns the US military the false messianic role "abolishing every rule of evil". It is more or less a request for neoconservative hawks in the George W. Bush administration to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. This not only dubious statecraft and American imperialism, it is by virtue of the messianic pretension, avodah zarah, and will not succeed in fulfilling the work of tikkun olam on behalf of American Jews, who should stop asking for it.

These will not succeed in fulfilling the work of tikkun olam behalf of American Jews, who should stop praying for it.

Both denominations more or less abdicate the specifically Jewish responsibility given in Isaiah 2:3 to teach the law to gentiles, and then make an essential vain prayer for fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 2:4, "nation shall not lift up sword against nation".

Instead, prayer the prayers offered here, and prepare to teach the Noahide covenant and function as "spiritual Israel" in these lands of exile. Thus conscientious God-fearing gentiles may actually come and learn to fulfill their part of the 2:4 prophecy, which is what everyone is waiting for.

Please correct this grave moral and theological error as soon as possible. You can help by sitting down, if your congregation stands during the militarist prayer, and do not recite with them, or else recite only the sentences that do not include avodah zarah. Present this proposal to the board and rabbinic leaders, take input from your community, copy and modify the proposal as needed and as your scholars and rabbis advise.

Last year I warned of future "degradation of America and the Jewish people before their enemies", as a divine rejection of the false messianism and faux-patriotic jingoism of the OU and USCJ's prayers for the secular government an military. Repentance before Yom Kippur 5783 was called for, but didn't happen. Look what happened - in response to increased belligerence from Russia, China, and Iran's proxies during the year of 2023/5782, America was flat-footed. Then that fall saw the Oct 7th "Al-aqsa flood" massacres and global intifada break out, immediately after the deadline for repentance had passed. Neither the U.S. nor Israel was prepared for that challenge, and we should accept this as divine rebuke, leading to fear and respect for God, and abandonment of fear and respect for foreign governments. The Orthodox Union and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism must repent of the false messianism and supercessionist replacement theology, and return to a messianic vision consistent with the Torah and prophets of Israel and accept instruction from the sages of Judaism.

I request all non-zionist haredim to adopt this prayer, and with its refutation of America-as-promised-land anti-zionism, continue this work by suggesting improvements to the prayer for the State of Israel, that acknowledge its place in the interim between exile and redemption.

The zionist prayer for Israel ordained by its chief rabbis in 1948 is far less chutzpadik about the role of the secular Israeli government in bringing about messianic redemption, although it is controversial for this reason. But if we find it problematic to acknowledge secular Israeli state as "the beginning of redemption" how much more problematic is our essential acknowledgement of the USA as redemption's completion?

An alternative order is to add prayers for the state of Israel and for the secular government immediately after the prayer for final redemption that is already given in the Amidah. Since it is in continuity with its basic theme of sim shalom.

גרעד Jared בן נח Essig

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