Prayer for Democracy

This is a text as an appeal to each other and to everyone who realizes what real freedom is and how fragile it is if we are not alert. Whether you call that praying or something else, that does not matter.

YHVH, Protector of those who love democracy,

give us the strength to protect our countries against any negative forces:

who spread racism, populism, radicalism and anti-Semitism,

who rebel against others and make them scapegoats,

who abuse freedom of speech to hurt and lie

and to spread conspiracy theories,

who act out of anger and resentment,

who can only think ‘either/or’ and not ‘and/and’,

who always blame the other and never see their own part.

YHVH, Protector of those who love democracy,

give us the strength to ever resist such forces,

as we know what it may lead to,

and what we hope never to experience (again).

YHVH, Protector of those who love democracy,

give us the strength to ensure a nation in which:

each person is free and equal to another,

all kinds of gender have equal rights,

no difference is made between people of different sexual orientation,

everyone has access to good education,

everyone can go to synagogues, churches, mosques and temples without fear,

where children grow up safely,

where the sick and elderly are nursed and cared for,

where minorities are protected,

where everyone’s opinion is valuable to be heard,

and in which nature and culture are protected and cared for.

YHVH, Protector of those who love democracy,

give us the strength to protect our nation,

as we are grateful to live in a democratic country.

AMEN

Jom HaShoa 2022