Q&A: Yekum Purkan and “Those in Babylonia”
Yekum Purkan and “Those in Babylonia”
Question
To bless the Exilarch, the judges, and the gate-judges in Babylonia…
It feels a bit strange to me…
Should one say it?
Skip it?
Update the wording to “those in America,” for example?
Answer
There is nothing sacred about this passage. If you want, you can have in mind whomever you wish, and if you want, don’t say it.
Discussion on Answer
With God’s help, 9 Shevat 5783
The prayer “Yekum Purkan” was said in Ashkenaz hundreds of years after the period of the Geonim. “Babylonia” here is a metaphorical expression for the center of Torah in exile. And similarly we ask, “Remove from upon us enemy, pestilence, and sword…” even though the disease threatening humanity is not specifically pestilence, and the main instrument of destruction is not the sword—still, it is fitting and proper to pray in the language of our ancestors as a metaphor.
With blessings, Yafa”or (a metaphorical nickname 🙂
There is no falsehood here, as explained in the previous comment.
For someone who does say it, wouldn’t it be preferable to pray in an updated and accurate wording rather than a false prayer? There may be no sanctity in it, but why say something untrue before God?