Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

January 18, 2017

The Traditional Hebrew Prayer for the Government, and Its Hidden Meaning

And its unique American variations.

Jews over the centuries have recited many different public prayers for the governments under which they have lived, but the most widespread in modern times, which remains standard in Orthodox congregations today, is Hanoteyn t’shu’ah lam’lakhim (“He Who Gives Salvation to Kings”). Although this prayer seems like a statement of undiluted patriotic devotion, Jonathan Sarna suggests that it lends itself to esoteric interpretation:

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