* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
It was a speech that was a prayer, a prayer that was a speech. Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, an Israeli-American, is the president of Yeshiva University. He was selected to deliver an invocation at the inauguration of President Trump. The text of Rabbi Berman’s invocation is given in full below:
“Let us pray. Almighty God, your prophet Jeremiah walked the streets of Jerusalem and blessed its inhabitants with the Hebrew words, “Baruch hagever asher yiftach Hashem” – Blessed is the one who trusts in God.
Thousands of years later, this great nation which adopted these words as its motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ stands at a moment of historic opportunity. Americans are searching for meaning.
Our Merciful Father help us rise to meet this moment.
Bless President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance with the strength and courage to choose the right and the good. Unite us around our foundational biblical values of life and liberty, of service and sacrifice, and especially of faith and morality, which George Washington called the indispensable supports of American prosperity.
Guide our schools and college campuses, which have been experiencing such unrest, to inspire the next generation to pair progress with purpose, knowledge with wisdom and truth with virtue.
Hear the cry of the hostages, both American and Israeli, whose pain our president so acutely feels.
We are so thankful for the three young women who yesterday returned home and pray that the next four years bring peace to Israel and throughout the Middle East.
Almighty God, grant all Americans the opportunity to realize our shared dream of a life filled with peace and plenty, health and happiness, compassion and contribution.
Stir within us the confidence to rise to this moment for while we trust in God, God’s trust is in us, the American people.
America is called to greatness, to be a beacon of light and a mover of history.
May our nation merit the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s blessing, like a tree planted by water we shall not cease to bear fruit. May all of humanity experience your love and your blessing.
May it be thy will, and let us say, Amen.”
May I add from Israel as well: Amen.
