I have often been approached by people who are unhappy with the current leadership of the United States. Republicans or Democrats, there’s always someone unhappy. They refuse to say the prayer for our country, they explain, because it invokes “blessings for our country, for its government, for its leader and advisors, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority.” They explain that the current president didn’t “deserve” blessings; or that their authority was not “just and rightful.”
To my mind, that really misses the point. The president, or leader, or advisor who doesn’t “deserve” blessing is precisely the one who needs blessings. And as far as “just and rightful authority” is concerned, at the end of the day the election is over when the fat electoral college sings. Like it or not.
Such partisan concerns should not distract us from the depth and sincerity of this prayer taken as a whole. It is composed of three parts, each worthy of attention. The first part, containing the blessing mentioned above, also calls on G-d to teach the leaders Torah. This serves to underscore the need for divine intervention and inspiration, no matter who the leader is and how accomplished they are.
This is followed by a call for unity for citizens “of all races and creeds.” It is hard to imagine a call like this in most European counties, where ethnic diversity is more or less on the level of Saudi Arabia. It’s only a “melting pot” country like the United States that needs to “banish all hatred and bigotry.” Although we all know where the U.S. hasn’t succeeded, we should take pride in the remarkable degree to which it has been attempted, and sometimes even succeeded.
Finally, the prayer reiterates the classic exceptionalist vision of being “an influence of good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom.” In the down and dirty world of politics, it’s all too easy to lose sight of what’s at stake in the magnificence of the American experiment. This prayer is a beautiful weekly reminder.