Eternal God,
Lawgiver, Guide, Creator,
You have provided us with a roadmap to integrity
In Your Torah.
We learn to show fairness and to promote justice
without preference.
We are instructed to show consideration and respect to those people
Who may oppose us and hate us,
Even when our impulse might be to rescind our kindness
When we have an opportunity to show it.
We are directed to remain distant from anyone who would levy a false
Charge against an innocent person,
Because through our silence or our verbal assent to the those
Who would invent such untruths,
We become accomplices in their crime, whether it is discovered or not.
The Torah demands that we refuse to take bribes, which can
Turn the tables of justice so that a guilty person can escape scrutiny or eventual punishment.
And we know, Our true judge, that You would want us to remove our support from anyone who would take a bribe to that immoral and illegal end.
As members of a greater community, we have taken to heart your command to treat the poor and the stranger with compassion and with generosity, having been strangers in so many lands in which we have lived, facing difficult conditions and seeking to overcome threats to our very well-being.
So now, as we look towards the future, seeking to sustain goodness and holiness in our world, give us hope and strength so that our steps will be firm and our vision far-reaching to spread throughout humanity righteousness, acceptance, and love.
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