Ribono shel olam, Sovereign of all Space and Time,
You have formed us to be Your partner in Creation.
You have commanded us to
Pursue justice
Love our neighbor
Welcome the stranger
Tend the earth
Make peace
Repair the world.
And to do so, you have taught us
To create covenants and communities
And appoint leaders to guide and serve.
We – am Yisrael, the Jewish people – are one people among many nations
We have come to this nation, the United States
Seeking refuge and prospect and safety
Sustained by the liberty to speak and pray,
Assemble and organize,
In accordance with our rites and traditions.
We know that this is a nation
Founded by massacre
Built by slavery
Maintained by exclusion
Defined by inequality.
And we also know that this nation
Promises equality
Exercises resilience
Evolves continuously
Practices teshuvah.
Because this is a nation
Conceived by vision and ideas
Rooted in social contract and text
Bound by law and obligation
Consecrated by diversity and democracy.
May the United States continue to strive to be that more perfect Union
May we all work together,
The governors and the governed
The citizen and the resident
Each person and their neighbor
To create a nation
That values bridges as well as walls
That honors “freedom from” as well as “freedom to”
That provides foundations of support as well as ladders of opportunity
That recognizes communal responsibilities as well as individual rights.
May we create a nation
Full of compassion and kindness,
Fairness and love,
Prosperity and unity.
And may we create a nation
Free from want and fear,
Violence and oppression,
Hatred and division.
May we create a nation
That fosters right relations between us and the land
That acknowledges history while forging the future
That gives honor to our ancestors and hope to our descendants
That sees all of its inhabitants as created btzelem Elohim, in the image of God.
May we create a nation
That gives to bigotry no sanction
That is of the people, by the people, and for the people
That offers malice toward none, and charity for all
That will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
May the leaders of the United States be guided by wisdom and lovingkindness.
And may the blessings of holiness and peace extend to all at home here, and to all who dwell on Earth.
And let us say,
Amen.