In October of 2016, Rabbi David Zvi Kalman composed a prayer for voting—to be read alongside the Prayer for the United States in synagogues the Shabbat before Election Day. By his explanation, he wanted the prayer to serve four functions, two of which I found deeply compelling: It connects the grand notion of “government” with the people in the room, thereby empowering them—and uniting them, albeit briefly, across their political differences. Like the rabbinic prayer before entering a study hall, it sets a non-partisan intention: Voting should be understood as a weighty and holy responsibility. Along with his prayer, found here, I offer a collection of other prayers written by contemporary Jews for this moment—which is indeed weighty and, I pray, holy. This weekend, Rabbi Josh Feigelson will be joining us, teaching on Friday night during and after services and on Saturday morning in our Spirit of Shabbat learning. His organization, the Institute [...]

If Fiddler on the Roof granted us perhaps the most well-known prayer for the government, the first one dates back to the prophet Jeremiah in the 6th century. A prophet of the exile, he writes from Babylonia, saying: “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.” (Jeremiah 29:7) As my colleague, Rabbi Rachel Isaacs, explains: “Since the destruction of the first Temple in 586 B.C.E., the Jewish community has recognized how our fate is inextricably tied to the welfare of the states in which we live and the quality of their governance.” Over the summer, while writing the Deuteronomy commentaries for the Union for Reform Judaism, I reflected on Parashat Shoftim, in which God and Moses set forth some ideas about guidelines around leadership. While I was not thinking particularly about November 2024, it was a reminder that, [...]