Prayer on Behalf of the Jewish Soldier In Gaza (Short Version)

 

As requested by those dwelling in the Diaspora

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lord of the Universe!

 

We, the people of Israel who are dwelling in the Diaspora,

 

come to you in humility.

Once more, Jewish soldiers are asked

 

to defend our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land

 

against our enemies.

We ask You to have pity on them,
to help them watch over our people
with clean hands
and a merciful heart.

Calm their wives, children, mothers and fathers.

 

Lift their spirits and give them strength

 

while their husbands, fathers and sons fight for our people.

 

 

Prevent them from making mistakes

 

by hurting or killing their fellow brothers-in-arms

 

with friendly fire.

 

 

Let their bullets not hurt those children of our enemies
whose “guardians” place them deliberately in danger spots,
fire on our soldiers and then shield themselves
behind their own people

 

so as to fault our soldiers when their children
get hurt, or even killed.

 

 

Let our soldiers not accidentally hit schools, hospitals

 

or convoys which provide food and medicine,

 

as this would unwittingly cause the violation of Your holy Name,

 

 

O God,
as one of our Prime Ministers, Golda Meir, once expressed:

 

We may one day forgive our enemies for killing our children,

 

but we will never forgive them for forcing our soldiers to kill.

 

 

We are the children of Avraham, your servant,
who prayed for the evil people of Sedom.

 

 

Now, after thousands of years dwelling on Earth,
after many exiles, pogroms, tortures,
expulsions and holocausts,
we finally found our way back

 

to our small homeland,
that which You promised to our forefathers.

 

 

But once more our dreams of peace
have gone up in smoke
as our fellow Jews in Israel tried, risking their own lives,
to find a way to allow their neighbors

 

to live their own lives.

 

O God, You know
that no army in world history

 

has used so much restraint

 

as the Israeli army.
No army is as careful not to hurt or kill as ours.
But what can they do when they are fired upon by thousands of rockets,

 

and have to defend nearly one million of our brothers and sisters

 

in the south of our Holy Land.

 

 

We hate war as nobody else does,
we abhor the need to carry weapons,
and we cannot stand the sound

 

of our own artillery and tanks.

 

 

We are the People of the Book
The Book which demands

 

holiness, kindness and integrity.

 

Our heroes are not the generals or marshals,
but rather our prophets and our sages,
men of righteousness.

 

 

Let the world not forget that our army is fighting not only our fight

 

but a fight for all of mankind,

 

to undo the evil of terror which has swept Your world.

 

 

Bring our soldiers home from the battlefields, alive and unharmed,

 

in their own merit and in the merit of their wives, children and parents,

 

so that they can sanctify Your name.

 

 

Let the blessing which You gave to Avraham come true,
“And through you all the families of the Earth will be blessed”.

 

For this is our hope.