A Prayer for the United States of America (2025)

Prayers for the welfare of the country are part of a very old Jewish tradition. The prophet Jeremiah, writing to the exiled Jewish community in Babylon, instructed them: “Seek the peace of the city to which I have exiled you, and pray to God on its behalf, for in its peace you shall find peace” (Jeremiah 29:7). Jewish communities have long taken that charge seriously, offering prayers on behalf of the nations where they lived.

American Jews have composed many prayers for the U.S. over the years, often sharing a common theme: that democracy, with its ideals of liberty, equality, and justice, is fragile, and it requires both divine blessing and human commitment to endure. We thrive when those ideals are upheld; we suffer when they are eroded.

Around 2018, I began to feel that the traditional versions of the prayer for the U.S. did not quite capture the challenges I believed we were uniquely confronting in our country at that time: corruption and abuses of power, the targeting of vulnerable communities, and the need for all of us to take seriously our responsibilities as citizens. Out of that desire, I wrote my own version, drawing on Jewish liturgy, biblical language, and American civic ideals. That prayer was a way of channeling both my gratitude for this country and my concern for its direction into words of faith and hope.

Ever since composing that version, I have been regularly using it in worship, and even published it in my 2021 book, No Time for Neutrality: American Rabbinic Voices from an Era of Upheaval. 

But as I approached this year’s High Holy Days, I came to feel that it needed to be reshaped. In recent years, it has become painfully clear that democracy is not guaranteed. The institutions and norms that have safeguarded our community — and so many others — are more vulnerable than we may have realized. At the same time, new forms of cruelty and division threaten to corrode our shared life together. 

The new version I composed, which I am sharing below, grew out of my reflections on the moment we are living in now. It keeps the same basic structure as my previous prayer but shifts its emphasis. It still gives thanks for the blessings of America — the ideals and institutions that have been our safety and our strength — but it now asks that we be fortified against unjust decrees, that we find the courage to hold leaders accountable, that we not stand idly by when others suffer, and that we refuse to surrender to despair. It insists that “We the People,” in all our diversity, are siblings created in God’s image. And it points us back to the vision of the prophets: justice rolling down like water, peace embracing the earth.

I wrote this prayer to affirm commitments I believe we all can hold in common: justice, human dignity, compassion, and the health of our democracy. My hope is that these words not only lift us in prayer, but also inspire us to live as partners in the sacred task of building a society that reflects the image of God in every human being.

A Prayer for the United States of America (2025):

Our God and God of our ancestors, bless and protect the United States of America, and help us preserve, renew, and advance the ideals and institutions that have been our security and our strength — ensuring equal opportunity and justice for all, eradicating oppression, both within and beyond our borders.

Guard us against the corrosion of our common life — from cruelty becoming custom, from deception becoming doctrine, from violence becoming virtue. Shield us from those who would criminalize dissent, intimidate opposition, and scapegoat the vulnerable and marginalized. Fortify us to oppose unjust decrees, remembering that “any law that uplifts human personality is just, and any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” 

Protect us from leaders who abuse their power, who sow fear and division, corrupt justice, and trample the defenseless. Grant us the courage to remind them — through our voices and with our votes — who they serve, and before Whom they stand. 

Spare us from standing idly by. Where we see degradation or persecution, move us to march. Where we see tyranny, rally us to resist. And when we feel despair, grant us the audacity to hope. 

Enable us to remember that “We the People” — of every skin color and national origin, every ethnicity and creed, every gender identity and sexual orientation, every ability and disability — are all siblings, created equally in the Divine image, and called upon by our Heavenly Parent to safeguard one another and to dwell together in peace.

Ready us to join together in that spirit, so that we may make “justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” and speedily bring about the day when “nation will not take up sword against nation, and they will never again know war.”

May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You. And let us say, “Amen.”