From Czar to Civil Rights
For centuries, Jews took the Mishnah’s instruction literally:
“Pray for the stability of the government…” (Pirkei Avot 3:2)
Across Europe, communities recited a special prayer for the ruling monarch, Ha-Noten Teshuah (“He Who grants salvation to kings…”). Originating in 11th-century Germany, its purpose was survival: a public demonstration of loyalty to secure the safety of a vulnerable Jewish community.
By the 17th century, this prayer—in various forms—had spread to almost every Jewish prayer book across the globe. But beneath its widespread adoption was a dark irony.
For generations, oppressed Jews in the Russian Empire stood in their synagogues and outwardly prayed for the health and success of the very Czars who persecuted them.
A closer look, however, reveals a hidden, subversive layer. On the surface, the text praised the ruler; underneath, it heavily quoted biblical verses begging God to deliver them from the “evil sword” (Psalms 144:10 – “הַפּוֹצֶה אֶת דָּוִד עַבְדּוֹ מֵחֶרֶב רָעָה”) with a hinted reference to the next consecutive verse:
“Rescue me, save me from the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies, and whose oaths are false.” (144:11)
The congregants knew exactly who were those conniving foreigners, and whose sword they were praying to be protected from!
But when Jews arrived in America, and they became citizens of a democracy, this ancient survival code was no longer needed. And the question arose: Could an ancient prayer be made relevant?
In 1927, Rabbi Dr. Louis Ginzberg, a brilliant Talmudic scholar, set out to answer that question.
Like millions of Jewish immigrants, Ginzberg had come to America from the Russian Empire, where he grew up under the shadow of the Czar. In America, he discovered a stunning new reality: a democracy where Jews could vote, participate, and flourish.
Yet America was no utopia. Ginzberg encountered a society rife with racism, segregation, and prejudice, particularly toward Black Americans.
Drawing on both worlds, Ginzberg reimagined the ancient Prayer for the Government. He didn’t just tweak a few words; he transformed the prayer into a battle cry for civil rights.
In his groundbreaking version—later revised by Siddur Sim Shalom—the prayer asks God to bless:
“Our country…its leaders, advisors, and all who exercise just and rightful authority… that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom shall forever abide in our midst… May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions…
While different prayerbooks utilize variations of it today, the core themes remain.
Both the ancient and modern versions emerge from the same Mishnah. Yet Ginzberg shifted the focus entirely: transforming a prayer for communal survival into a shared pursuit of justice, freedom, and dignity for all people.
Shabbat Shalom.
