I fully agree with Michael Feldstein’s recent suggestion to de-individualize the Prayer for the Welfare of the American Government (“Prayer, Politics and the Pulpit” February 4, 2021). As with many of
Michael’s ideas in his “Meet Me in the Middle” column, it was a pragmatic solution to a point of unnecessary contention in our community.

However, while we wait for a publisher or rabbinic authority to take up the cause and push through such a change, I wanted to share a mistake I had been making until someone was kind enough to correct me. Since January 20, the Hebrew language text for the prayer printed in our siddurim has become outdated—no longer should we say “משנהו”—but rather we should be saying “משנתו” in reference to Vice President Harris. I want to thank Michal Bigman, a Hebrew teacher at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy, for correcting me in shul this Shabbos.