A lot of things changed and had to be changed when her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away. For Jews it meant a change to the regular prayer for the Monarch and the Royal Family that is said as part of every Shabbat synagogue service. The name and sex of the Monarch had to be changed as did the section about the other members of the Royal Family.
The Open Siddur (prayerbook) Project was incredibly and admirably quick off the mark in amending the prayer for the Royal Family, which in Orthodox synagogues and many other synagogues also contains a section praying for His Majesty’s Armed Forces which was incorporated into the Royal Family Prayer by Orthodox Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, rather than the prayer for HM Armed Forces being a separate prayer, as it has been at some times and in particular during wartime. This version of the prayer which was published on the 8th September does itself need updating as it was published before Prince William officially became Prince of Wales but I assume that this updating will be done in due course or ‘on the fly’ in synagogue services.
I find this prayer incredibly moving and well written and will be incorporating it into any ad hoc services that I have a hand in organising just as we incorporate into our home Shabbat service the recitation of a prayer thanking the Eternal One for my wife and praising her (yes we have to tell our wives how wonderful they are at least once a week).
Here’s the prayer. The original source can be found here:
| הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה לַמְּלָכִים וּמֶמְשָׁלָה לַנְּסִיכִים מַלְכוּתוֹ מַלְכוּת כׇּל עוֹלָמִים |
He who giveth salvation unto kings |
| הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת אֲדוֹנֵֽינוּ הַמֶּֽלֶךְ |
may he bless |
| מֶֽלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים בְּרַחֲמָיו יְחַיֵּֽיהוּ וְיִשְׁמְרֵֽהוּ וּמִכׇּל־צָרָה וְיָגוֹן יַצִּילֵֽהוּ |
May the supreme King of kings |
|
וִיבָרֵךְ וְיִשְׁמֹר |
May He bless and protect |
| וְיִתֵּן בְּלִבּוֹ וּבְלֵב כׇּל־יוֹעֲצַיו רֽוּחַ חָכְמָה וּבִינָה לְהַחֲזִיק שְׁלוֹם הַמַּלְכוּת וְשַׁלְוַת עַמּוֹ וְלַעֲשׂוֹת חֶֽסֶד וֶאֶמֶת עִם־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ |
May he put into his heart |
| בְּיָמָיו וּבְיָמֵֽינוּ יִפְרֹשׂ אָבִֽינוּ שֶׁבַּשָׁמַֽיִם סֻכַּת שָׁלוֹם עַל־כׇּל־יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל וּבָא לְצִיּוֹן גּוֹאֵל וְנֺאמַר אָמֵן׃ |
In his days and in ours, may our Heavenly Father spread the protection of peace over all the dwellers on earth; and may the Redeemer come unto Zion; and let us say, Amen. |
I’ve heard some British Jews joke that this prayer basically has an undertone that says ‘please don’t kill or expel us your Majesty’ and back when English Jews were the personal property of the Monarch, as was the case under previous medieval Monarchs, Jews being killed or expelled merely for being Jews was a serious threat. This threat was realised in Edward I’s reign when in 1290 all of England’s Jews were expelled, partly because this King was said to have spent so much money on pacifying the Welsh that one of the few ways he could gain cash was to expel the Jews and confiscate their property. Jews remained officially barred from England until the rule of Oliver Cromwell who removed the ban on Jews residing legally in England. It is why there is still a lot of residual respect for Old Ollie in the Jewish community despite Cromwell being a historical character who divides opinion. Cromwell righted a wrong done to the Jewish community although it’s quite possible to accept this whilst still being aware of Cromwell’s much more negative side.
I know that this post is very much of a minority interest but I was so pleased to see this timely and well written prayer on the Open Siddur Project website that I wanted to share it.
