May Salvation Arise (Yekum purkan)

May deliverance arise from heaven, bringing grace, love, and mercy; long life, ample sustenance, assistance from heaven, and physical health on earth; living and thriving ofspring, children who will neither neglect nor cease studying the teachings of the Torah, and sons who live among those who observe the Torah–to our masters and rabbis of the holy communities in the land of Israel and in Babylonia, the exilarchs and the heads of the academies, the judges in the gate and the judges in the city, and to all the Torah scholars and all their students and all the students of their students, and to all who are occupied in the study of the Torah, and to all this holy congregation, the great with the small, children with women.

May the King of the universe prolong their lives, increase their days, deliver and save them from all kinds of distress and from all sickness.

May our Master in heaven be their aid, hear the sound of their prayers, and give them grace and love from His royal throne of glory, and from His rule over the earth, and may the merit of all Israel be sustained in all times and seasons, and let us say: Amen.

Translated by Avi Steinhart.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

Engage with this Source

This version of the Yekum purkan (“May Salvation Arise”) prayer, written in Aramaic, requests divine assistance for the Palestinian and Babylonian leadership. Yekum purkan was first recited in the geonic period but is not mentioned in the standard geonic prayer books. It first appears in the Mahzor Vitry, written in Rashi’s school. It was popular primarily in medieval France and Germany and is still recited in many communities today. Several phrases from this text are recognizable from the Aramaic Kaddish de-rabbanan.

Read more

You may also like