Following the הפטורה and the Prayer for the Congregation on שבת morning, there is a מנהג in some congregations to say a תפלה on behalf of the government of the country in which one lives.
The source of this מנהג is ירמיה [1] who exhorts his listeners to seek the peace of the city to which they have been exiled and daven for it to Hashem, "for with its peace will be your peace".
Based on the above, רבי חנינא סגן הכהנים teaches that one should daven for the peace of the government, because if not for fear of the law, people would simply swallow each other alive (whether literally or figuratively). [2]
This exhortation includes not just the monarch themselves, but rather even the government as a whole, as is implied by רבי חנינא's language of 'מלכות' rather than מלך [3].
The reason why we should daven for the government is (not because of loyalty or patriotism per se, or because we necessarily agree with their political policies etc. but rather) because stability in society has a positive effect on all. To that end, we should daven for the government to have peace, for if the government is at peace, then society as a whole is at peace, and everyone benefits. [4]
You see even a deeper point in the words of Yirmeiyahu, as the word "shalom" in that particular posuk in Yirmiyeahu is probably more exactly translated as "welfare" (as in Breishis 37:14). Yirmiyahu is telling them that they cannot have prosperity without the country around them being prosperous. Malbim and Chida explain that this is because in golus, the Divine energy (hashpaa) is given to the country and the Jews in that country get it through the country that they're in. As opposed to Eretz Israel where it is given directly. Therefore, outside of Israel it is impossible for the Jewish population to prosper, if the surrounding population is not prospering as well.
ReplyDeleteThis is why Rabbi Miller OBM always urged his listeners to vote for whichever candidate has the long-term interests (safety, stability, law and order, economic growth, etc.) of the country in mind (at least on an official level - what a candidate does once they get elected is hard to predict but we have to do out hishtadlus). I don't know if he specifically had the above point in mind but on a practical level it is a true יסוד as well.
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