Tephilah li-Shalom Medinath Yisrael [prayer for the welfare of the State of Israel]

(ISRAEL, STATE OF).

Jerusalem

Ellul, 1948

FIRST EDITION. Printer’s omission of two words supplied by hand. Excellent condition

Rare Independent Printing of Prayer for State of Israel Perhaps no prayer uttered in modern times has aroused so much controversy as the prayer for the State of Israel. In Ellul of 1948, just months after the formal establishment of the State, the Chief Rabbinate instituted this prayer to be recited after the reading of the Torah on Sabbaths and festivals. Some elements within the Orthodox world are deeply offended to this day by the inclusion of the words “reshith tzemichath ge’ulatheinu” (the beginning of the sprouting of our redemption). They find it difficult to conceive of a secular State as being the beginning of the Messianic redemption. The actual wording of the prayer was not composed by Chief Rabbis Isaac Halevi Herzog and Benzion Uziel, as often stated, but rather by Samuel Joseph Agnon