Petichta to the Prayer for our Country

Shabbat Hol HaMoed Sukkot 5779

Jewish prayer lives in dynamic tension between קבע – the stable text of the prayers – and כוונה, the focus of our heart’s attention in the moment. In order to bridge these two elements of the prayer experience, some 1,500 years ago prayer leaders began composing an introduction that became known as a “פתיחתא” (petikhta), a liturgical poem that expresses the emotions and petitions of the moment in order to frame the ageless words of the siddur. In a time that has been unspeakably difficult for so many in our country, Rabbi Annie Lewis composed the following פתיחתא to the “Prayer for Our Country” (found in Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, page 148).

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Ufros aleinu sukkat shlomecha [sing]
Spread over us, Shekhina, Your shelter of peace,
Your sukkah of wholeness.
This week, when we are confronted with
the brokenness of our country
and our own broken hearts,
embrace us as we are, where we are.
Help us to bear witness,
to hold our pain and the pain of others
with compassion,
those of us in our beloved community
who live with assault and abuse,
those of us who are survivors.
Give us the courage, like Dr. Christine Blasey Ford
to tell our stories, to speak our truth,
even when we are afraid we will not be heard.

May bystanders have the insight to acknowledge our complicity.
May perpetrators be brave enough to take responsibility.

El Rahum v’Hanun – Compassionate One,
Be with all the women and trans and genderqueer folks of our country
who have been told from generation to generation
not to take up space,
to dim our light,
and to mute our voices.
Help us to believe ourselves and one another.
Help us to believe in ourselves and in one another.

May we build a sukkat shalom in this sanctuary
and in this land,
a shelter of wholeness and equity,
justice and dignity.

For the integrity of our country and our Torah,
for our sake, for our mothers before us,
for all who are yet to come.
Ufros aleinu sukkat shlomecha [sing]