Part 1 - Original Sources
(1) עֲקַבְיָא בֶן מַהֲלַלְאֵל אוֹמֵר, הִסְתַּכֵּל בִּשְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים וְאִי אַתָּה בָא לִידֵי עֲבֵרָה. דַּע מֵאַיִן בָּאתָ, וּלְאָן אַתָּה הוֹלֵךְ, וְלִפְנֵי מִי אַתָּה עָתִיד לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן. מֵאַיִן בָּאתָ, מִטִּפָּה סְרוּחָה, וּלְאָן אַתָּה הוֹלֵךְ, לִמְקוֹם עָפָר רִמָּה וְתוֹלֵעָה. וְלִפְנֵי מִי אַתָּה עָתִיד לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן, לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא:
(2) רַבִּי חֲנִינָא סְגַן הַכֹּהֲנִים אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתְפַּלֵּל בִּשְׁלוֹמָהּ שֶׁל מַלְכוּת, שֶׁאִלְמָלֵא מוֹרָאָהּ, אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ חַיִּים בְּלָעוֹ. רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶן תְּרַדְיוֹן אוֹמֵר, שְׁנַיִם שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִין וְאֵין בֵּינֵיהֶן דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, הֲרֵי זֶה מוֹשַׁב לֵצִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים א) וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב. אֲבָל שְׁנַיִם שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִין וְיֵשׁ בֵּינֵיהֶם דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, שְׁכִינָה שְׁרוּיָה בֵינֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ג) אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי יְיָ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ וַיַּקְשֵׁב יְיָ וַיִּשְׁמָע וַיִּכָּתֵב סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן לְפָנָיו לְיִרְאֵי יְיָ וּלְחֹשְׁבֵי שְׁמוֹ. אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שְׁנַיִם, מִנַּיִן שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ אֶחָד שֶׁיּוֹשֵׁב וְעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה, שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא קוֹבֵעַ לוֹ שָׂכָר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (איכה ג) יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד וְיִדֹּם כִּי נָטַל עָלָיו:
(1) Akabyah ben Mahalalel said: mark well three things and you will not come into the power of sin: know from where you come, and where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning. From where do you come? From a putrid drop. Where are you going? To a place of dust, of worm and of maggot. Before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning? Before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.
(2) Rabbi Hanina, the vice-high priest said: pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbour alive. R. Hananiah ben Teradion said: if two sit together and there are no words of Torah [spoken] between them, then this is a session of scorners, as it is said: “nor sat he in the seat of the scornful…[rather, the teaching of the Lord is his delight]” (Psalms 1:1); but if two sit together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, then the Shekhinah abides among them, as it is said: “then they that feared the Lord spoke one with another; and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was writte
דבר אחר מה דגים שבים כל הגדול מחבירו בולע את חבירו אף בני אדם אלמלא מוראה של מלכות כל הגדול מחבירו בולע את חבירו והיינו דתנן רבי חנינא סגן הכהנים אומר הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות שאלמלא מוראה של מלכות איש את רעהו חיים בלעו.
Alternatively, just as in the case of fish of the sea, any fish that is bigger than another swallows the other, so too in the case of people, were it not for the fear of the government, anyone who is bigger than another would swallow the other. And this is as we learned in a mishna (Avot 3:2) that Rabbi Ḥanina, the deputy High Priest, says: One should pray for the continued welfare of the government, as were it not for the fear of the government, man would swallow his neighbor alive.
וַתַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֖ם כִּדְגֵ֣י הַיָּ֑ם כְּרֶ֖מֶשׂ לֹא־מֹשֵׁ֥ל בּֽוֹ׃
You have made mankind like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.-g
(ז) וְדִרְשׁ֞וּ אֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הָעִ֗יר אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגְלֵ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ שָׁ֔מָּה וְהִתְפַּֽלְל֥וּ בַעֲדָ֖הּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֣י בִשְׁלוֹמָ֔הּ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם שָׁלֽוֹם׃
(7) And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.
(י) דִּֽי־לֶהֱוֺ֧ן מְהַקְרְבִ֛ין נִיחוֹחִ֖ין לֶאֱלָ֣הּ שְׁמַיָּ֑א וּמְצַלַּ֕יִן לְחַיֵּ֥י מַלְכָּ֖א וּבְנֽוֹהִי׃
(10) so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of Heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
מגילת תענית
יום ששאלו הכותים את בית המקדש מאלסכנדרוס מוקדון, ואמרו לו: מכור לנו חמשה כורים ארץ בהר המוריה. נתן להם. כשבאו, יצאו יושבי ירושלים ודחפום במקלות והודיעו את שמעון הצדיק…אמר לו: מה אתה מבקש? אמר לו: בית שאנו מתפללין בו על מלכותך – התעוך גוים ונתתו להם. אמר לו: מי הטעוני? אמר לו: הן הן הכותיים שעומדים לפניך. אמר לו: הרי הם מסורים בידכם.
Megillat Taanit
On the day the Kutim asked for the Beit Hamikdash from Alexander of Macedon, they said to him: Sell to us five kor of land on Har Hamoriya. He gave it to them. When they came, the inhabitants of Jerusalem came out and pushed them with sticks and informed Shimon Hatzaddik...[Alexander] said to [Shimon] What do you want? He said to him: A house in which we pray for your kingdom - let the Gentiles go and give it to them [the Jews]. He said to him: Who is charged? He said to him: They are the Kutim who stand before you. He said to him: They are in your hands.
בשלומה של מלכות...אפי' באומות העולם שכן מצינו שהיו נודרין נדרים ונדבות בשבילם וכמו שמצינו בשבעים פרים שהיו ישראל מביאים בחג על שבעים אומות:
R' Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105)
Even in the nations of the world, for so we find that they would swear oaths and vows for them and as we find with the 70 cows that Israel would bring on the festival [of Succot] for the 70 nations.
(א) כ. דין הוצאת התורה ודין הקריאה וברכותיה
(כט) ובשבת שחרית נהגו לומר אחר ההפטרה מי שברך. ויש מקומות שמברכין המלך ואחר כך הקהל והכל לפי המנהג
c. 14th or 15th C
(1) Laws of taking out the Torah and the laws of reading it and its blessings.
(29) On the Sabbath during Shaharit, it is customary to say a "Mi Sheberach" after the Haftarah. There are places where they bless the king and afterward the congregation and everything is according to custom.
ספר אבודרהם דיני קריאת התורה
Sefer Abudraham
R' David Abudarham (fl. 1340)
And they were accustomed to blessing the king and to praying to God that He should aid him and strengthen him over his enemies, as it says: And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace shall you have peace. And the peace of the city is that he shall pray to God that the king shall defeat his enemies. And we say in the first chapter of Tractate Avoda Zara: Rab Judah says in the name of Samuel: Why is it written: And You make man as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? Why is man here compared to the fishes of the sea?… Just as among fish of the sea the greater swallow up the smaller ones, so with men, were it not for fear of the government, men would swallow each other alive. This is just what we learnt: R. Hanina, the Deputy High Priest, said, Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear thereof, men would swallow each other alive. And after this he blesses the community, as it says: [And the king turned his face around] and blessed all the congregation of Israel.
סדר היום, לכבד ספר התורה
אחר כך, יברך החזן למלך המולך עלינו ואפי' יהי' מא"ה כיון שאנו עומדים תחת רשותו וממשלתו צריכין אנו להתפלל עליו כי בשלומו יהי' לנו שלום וכן היא מצות עשה מדברי קבלה שכן כתיב בירמיה ודרשו את שלום העיר אשר וגו" כי בשלומה יהי' לכם שלום ויענו כל העם אמן.
Seder Hayom: Seder Keriyat HaTorah BeShabbat
R' Moshe ben R' Yehuda ben Machir
After [the Haftara], the hazan shall bless the king who rules over us. Even if he is from the nations of the world, since we stand under his control and his rule, we must [tzerikhin anu] pray for him. For in his peace we will find peace. So it is an affirmative commandment from our tradition [rabbinic law], for so it says in Jeremiah: “And seek the peace of the city where etc.” and the entire nation shall say Amen.
Part 2 - Rationales
Rationale 1a - Prevents Anarchy by Maintaining Monopoly on Violence
בלעו. היינו שלם בלי הרגשת טעם הלעיסה, ולא חש שעושה התועבה הזאת לרעהו בעבור הנאה מועטת. אולם רק היראה שיענשהו המלכות עבור זה, היא תמנעהו מלהרע לך. ולכן לא די שתתפלל שלא יהא מרידה במלכות, ותהיה אימתה מוטלת על הבריות, רק תתפלל ג"כ שיהיה שלום והשקט למנהיג בבריאות גופא. ובביתו, ועם שכניו ובארצו, כדי שיהיה לו מנוחה ופנאי להשגיח על טובת הכלל תמיד:
R' Yisrael Lipschitz (1782–1860)
This means whole without tasting [or] chewing, and it does not concern them that they would do this abomination to their friend for a small amount of enjoyment.
But it is only the fear of punishment by the government which prevents this evil. And therefore it is not enough enough to pray that there is no rebellion in the kingdom, and that there be fear upon the people, but also pray that there be peace and quiet for the leader in physical health. And in his home and with his neighbours and land, so that he has res and the opportunity to always govern for the good of the people.
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651) pt. 1, ch. 13
During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man. "To this war of every man against every man, this also in consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law, where no law, no injustice. Force, and fraud, are in war the cardinal virtues. "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."
Rationale 1b - Prevents Anarchy by Creating Community
ועל זה אמר בכאן, כיון שכל אדם הוא כל העולם, עד שמצד העולם היה די לעולם באדם יחידי, ואין צריך לזולתו, ולפיכך אם לא היה מורא מלכות, כי המלך הוא מקשר ומאחד הכלל, כי זהו ענין המלך שהוא מקשר ומאחד הכלל, כי מפני שגוזר טבע העולם שיהיה האדם יחידי בעולם, אם אין מוראו של מלכות 'איש את רעהו חיים בלעו', עד שיהיה האדם כפי ציור* העולם. שכך הוא* הבריאה, שהרי כל אדם אומר 'בשבילי נברא העולם', והוא בלבד ראוי בעולם, ולכך היה בולע את רעהו חיים, עד שהוא נשאר בלבד*. ולכך אמר 'הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות, שאלמלא מורא מלכות', שהוא מקשר האנשים הפרטים עד שהם מתחברים. ואם לא היה זה, כל אחד בולע את רעהו חיים, כי כל אחד כל העולם, ולכך היה האדם נמשך אחר זה, והיה בולע רעהו חיים, שלא יהיה נמצא רק הוא.
R' Yehudah Loew ben Bezalel [Maharal] (c.1512 - 1609)
And on this it says here, that since every person is an entire world, to the extent that for the world it would be sufficient to have a single person and no need for anyone else, therefore if not for the fear of he kingdom, inasmuch as the king binds and unites the public - for this is the point of the king, that he binds and unites the public - for since the decreed nature of the world is that man is alone in the world, if it were not for fear of the kingdom 'each man would swallow his fellow alive', to the point where man kefi tziur of the world. For this is the creation, for everyone says 'the world was created for my sake', and he alone is fit for the world, and therefore one would swallow his fellow alive, until he alone remains. And therefore it says to pray for the peace of the kingdom, for - if it were not for fear of the kingdom, which binds private individuals until they are united - if not for this, every person would swallow their fellow alive, for every person is a whole world, and therefore each person would pursue each-other and swallow their fellow alive so that they may exist alone.
ועוד יש לך להבין דבר זה, כי כאשר המתנגד הוא האדם ולא מלך, אז הוא מבקש לאבד את הכל, כמו שעשה המן. כי אמרו זכרונם לברכה (אבות פ"ג מ"ב) ש"אם אין מורא מלכות איש את רעהו חיים בלעו". ודבר זה בארנו במקומו בחבור דרך חיים (שם) כי האדם מצד שהוא אדם אשר נברא שהוא מושל בתחתונים, נברא יחידי, כי כך ראוי מצד עצם הבריאה. ולכך כל אדם רוצה לבלעות את חבירו, שלא יהיה נמצא אחר זולתו. לכך המן, אילו היה מלך, לא היה מבקש לאבד את הכל. אבל זה היה אדם, לכך היה רוצה לבלעות את ישראל...וזה מפני כי האדם הוא מלך בתחתונים, כי תחתיו כל הנבראים התחתונים, ואין שני מלכים משתמשים בכתר אחד (חולין ס:).
R' Yehudah Loew ben Bezalel [Maharal] (c.1512 - 1609)
And there is another point to understand from this, which is that one's rival is a [fellow] person and not the king, so he wishes to destroy them all, as with Hamman. For they said Z'L (Avot 3:2) that if there is not fear of the kingdom a man would swallow his fellow man alive". And this matter we explained in its place in the book 'Derech Chaim' (there), that a man as a man was created as ruler of the lower plain, [and] created alone, for this is the crux of creation. And therefore every man wants to consume his fellow, so that there is no-one except him. Therefore Haman, if he had been king, would not have wanted to destroy everyone. But this is [the nature of] man, therefore he wanted to consume Israel...and that is because man is king of the lower plain, for beneath him are all lesser creations, and it cannot be that two kings serve with one crown (Chullin 60b).
Rationale 2 - Government Can Work for the Common Good
בשלומה של מלכות
אפילו של אומות העולם [כירמיה כ"ט פ"ז]. אולם לא קאמר בשלום המלך. מדיש מדינות שהמנהיגים רבים, כהזקנים שברומי בימים הקדמונים, וכמדינת [שווייץ] בזמנינו. או משום שר' חנינא חי סמוך לזמן החורבן, ואז הושיב הקיסר נצב מלך [פיצעקעניג] בא"י, והוא השליט בארץ. והשם מלכות כולל גם זאת ההנהגה ולכן הזהיר על זה, משום שבשלום המנהיג תלוי הצלחת כל אדם, כמו שיעץ ריב"ז בזמן החורבן [כגיטין נ"ו א']. ולא לבד מלכות, אלא גם כל מנהיג בעירו ועדתו נקרא בשם מלך והוה מתפלל בשלומם כדי שיהיה להם מנוח לפקח על טובת הכלל, ומה"ט עושין מי שברך בכל שבת לפו"מ ונאמר יה"ר בכל יום קריאת התורה בעד לומדי התורה לבעבור כי הם נושאי הנרות לפני בני דורם להנהיגם בדרך ישרה:
R' Yisrael Lipschitz (1782–1860)
Even the nations of the world (as in Jeremiah 29:7). But it does not say the peace of the king. [Rather] it is the heads of states [and] many leaders, like the wise men of Rome in the days of old and as in the country [of Switzerland] in our times. Or because R' Chanina lived close to the time of the destruction of the Temple, and the Caesar appointed a vice-regent in the land of Israel, and he was the leader of the land. And the name of 'malchut' includes also the [wider] leadership and therefore [the Mishna] warns on this, because the salvation of every person depends on the peace of the leadership, as R' Yochanan ben Zakai advised at the time of the destruction of the Temple (as in Gittin 56a). And not only the kingdom, rather also every leader in their city and community is called by the name of 'king' and one prays for their peace so they have rest to supervise for the good of the people. And for this reason we do a mi sheberach on every Shabbat for the community leaders and leaders and say a yehi ratzon on every day of Torah reading for for those who learn Torah for they are the torch-bearers before their contemporaries to lead them on the path of righteousness.
Rationale 3 - Government as a Prerequisite to Justice
והנראה לפי דרכי, שבעבור שעקביא בן מהללאל אמר שההסתכלות בדברים אשר זכר ימנע האדם מחטוא ובל יבא לידי עבירה, אמר רבי חנניא סגן הכהנים, שאין ההסתכלות הזה מספיק, כי מי כל בשר אשר לא ידע שבא מטפה סרוחה והולך למקום עפר רמה ותולעה, ועם כל זה לא ימנע מחטוא, לפי שיצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו, אבל ההתרחק מהעבירות הוא תלוי בשלומה של מלכות, שכאשר יש שלום בארץ ירבה המשפט ושופטים ושוטרים יבערו את הרשע, באופן שיתמו חטאים מן הארץ ורשעים עוד אינם. זו באמת היא המניעה העצמית לחטאות ולעבירות לא ההסתכלות לבד שזכר עקביא. וכבר פירש רש"י זכרונו לברכה: "הוי מתפלל שלומה של מלכות" – אפילו באומות העולם, שהרי ישראל נודרין נדרים ונדבות עליהם ששבעים פרי החג על שבעים אומות היו. וראוי לאדם שיתפלל בשלומה של מלכות כדי שירבה המשפט. כי בהיות מלחמה בארץ אין צדק ואין משפט, ואיש כל הישר בעיניו יעשה. אבל בשלומה לא יהיה כן לפיכך ציותה תורה (דברים יז, טו): "שום תשים עליך מלך". ודרשו חכמינו זכרונם לברכה (כתובות יז, ע"א): "שתהא אימתו עליך".
והנה אמר בשלומה של מלכות ולא אמר בשלומו של מלך, לפי ששלום המלכות הוא אשר יתחייב המשפט מבלי שהמלך יגזור עליו ויתעסק בו. הלא תראה שציותה תורה (דברים טז, יח): "שופטים ושוטרים תתך לך בכל שעריך אשר יי' אלהיך נותן לך לשבטיך", אשר הרצון בו כפי מה שפירשתי שמה, שהשופטים והשוטרים אשר יעמידו המשפט וינהיגוהו, יהיו מונחים מידי השבטים, לא מיד המלך. כי ברוב הפעמים המלך הוא עושק המשפט ומטרידו. ולכן אמר: "בשלומה של מלכות". ובפרקא קמא דעבודה זרה (דף ג, ע"ב) אמרו: "ותעשה אדם כדגי הים" (חבקוק א, יד) – מה דגים שבים גדול בולע את חבירו, אף האנשים כן "אלמלא מוראה" של מלכות. וידוע, ששלום המלכות אינו סיבה מיוחדת וקרובה להרחקת העבירות, אבל שלום המלכות הוא סיבה ליושר המשפט וטוב ההנהגה. וההנהגה והמשפט ההוא סיבה למוראת בני אדם ושלא יהיו שטופים בעבירות מיראת המוסר ועונש השופטים. ולכן אמר: "שאלמלא מוראה", שמלת 'מוראה' חוזר למלכות בהיותה לשלום שזכר כאילו אמר "שאלמלא מוראה" האנשים משלום המלכות והנהגתו 'איש את רעהו חיים בלעונו'. והלשון הזה 'חיים בלעונו' הוא מדברי שלמה בספר משלי (א, י-יג), ואופן הפסוקים שם: "בני אם יפתוך חטאים אל תאבה"; "אם יאמרו לכה אתנו נארבה לדם נצפנה לנקי חנם"; "נבלעם כשאול חיים ותמימים כיורדי בור"; "כל הון יקר" וגו'
...מסכים לדברי חנניא שאמר: "הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות", כי לולא שבט הנוגש בו, יתנהגו בני אדם בדין היה כל דאלים גבר ויפסד היישוב המדיני. וזה היא הסיבה העצמית בשלא יבא האדם לידי עבירה לא ההסתכלות שזכר עקביא.
R' Don Yitzchak Abarbanel (1437-1508)
And it seems according to my approach, that since Akavaya ben Mahalel says that looking at things remind a person to refrain from sinning and transgression, R' Chanania Sgan Hakohanim adds that looking [at these things] is not sufficient. For who is all flesh and does not know that [we] come from from a putrid drop and and go to a place of dust, worm and maggot, and yet with all this [people] do not refrain from sin, because the nature of man's heart is evil from their youth. But distancing from sin depends on the peace of the kingdom, for when there is peace in the land justice grows and the judges and officers destroy the evil person, in a situation where the sinners will be destroyed from the earth and the evil ones will be no more. This in truth is the crucial preventative to sins and transgressions, not the 'looking' alone which Akavya mentioned. And Rashi Z"L has already explained, "He would pray for the peace of the kingdom" - even in the nations of the world, for Israel swears oaths and vows on them [and] the 70 bulls of the festival [of Succot] are offered for the nations. And it is fitting for a person to pray for the peace of the kingdom so that justice grows. For when there is war in the land there is no righteousness and no justice, and each person does what is right in their eyes. But in peace it is not so, therefore the Torah commands, "Appoint over yourselves a king". And our Sages of blessed memory explain (Ketubot 17a) "so that his fear is upon you".
And it says the peace of the kingdom and not the peace of the king, since peace in the kingdom will bring justice without the king decreeing on it and becoming involved with it. See the Torah commanded (Devarim 16:18) 'You shall appoint judges and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that your God is giving you'; the intent is as I explained there, that the judges and officials uphold the law and administer it, then [that responsibility] will rest among the tribes, not in the hand of the king. For in most cases the king abuses the law and perverts it. And therefore it says 'in the peace of the kingdom'. And in the first chapter of Avodah Zarah (3b) they say, 'and makes man like the fish of the sea', just as for fish in the sea the larger swallows its fellow [fish], so too for men were it not for the fear of the kingdom. And it is known that the peace of the kingdom is not a unique cause of distancing from sin, but the peace of the kingdom is a cause for proper justice and good leadership. And leadership and justice are a cause of fear among men that they do not drown in sin due to fear of the informant and punishment of the judges. And therefore it says 'for if it were not for fear'; the word 'fear' refers back to the kingdom being in peace, as if to say 'if it were not for the fear' that people have from the peace of the kingdom and its [effective] leadership, 'each man would swallow his fellow alive'. And this language of 'swallow alive' is from the words of Shlomo in Mishlei and the manner of the verses there, "My son if sinners entice you do not yield, if they say, “Come with us,
Let us set an ambush to shed blood,
Let us lie in wait for the innocent
(Without cause!), like Sheol, let us swallow them alive; Whole, like those who go down into the Pit, We shall obtain every precious treasure etc."...
I agree with the words of Chanania when he says to pray for the peace of the kingdom, for if it were not for the oppression of the tribe, people would act in accordance with the principle of kol dealim gaver ('Whoever is stronger will triumph') and the settled state will lose. And this is the crucial cause of man not coming to sin, [and] not the 'looking' that Akavya mentioned.
Rationale 4 - The Royal is Divinely Ordained, Stick to the Plan
ופירוש המדרש זה, כי לכך היה מרדכי מזהיר אותו, אף שהיה מן הסברא שלא יהיה חס עליו כדי שיוציא אסתר מתחת ידו, מכל מקום מפני כי השם יתברך הוא שומר את העולם, ומעמיד המלך לשמור העולם, ולכך אמרו (אבות פ"ג מ"ב) "הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות שאלמלא מורא מלכות איש את רעהו חיים בלעו". ומכל שכן שיש להגיד עליו אם אחד רוצה להמית אותו.
R' Yehudah Loew ben Bezalel [Maharal] (c.1512 - 1609)
Therefore Mordechai warned [Achashverosh about the plot against his life], although it would have been logical for him not to be concerned by it so he could extract Esther from under [Achashverosh's] hand. Nevertheless, because God protects the world, and appoints the king to protect the world, and therefore they said (Avot 3:2) "pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbour alive". And all the more so then [it was incumbent on Mordechai] to tell [Achashverosh] if someone wanted to kill him.
Rationale 5 - Doing Our Part for World Peace
איש את רעהו חיים בלעו. זה הענין ר"ל שיש לאדם להתפלל על שלום כל העולם ולהצטער על צער של אחרים. וכן דרכן של צדיקים כמו שאמר דוד ע"ה (תהלים ל"ה י"ג) ואני בחלותם לבושי שק עניתי בצום נפשי שאין לאדם לעשות תחנוניו ובקשתו לצרכיו לבד אך להתפלל על כל בני אדם שיעמדו בשלום ובשלומה של מלכות יש שלום לעולם:
R' Yonah Gerondi (c. 1200–1263)
Man would swallow his fellow alive: This matter is wanting to say that a person should pray for the peace of the whole world and be in pain about the pain of others. And this is the way of the righteous ones, as David, peace be upon him, stated (Psalms 35:13), "As for me, when they were ill, my dress was sackcloth, I afflicted myself in fasting." As a person should not make his supplications and his requests for his needs alone, but rather to pray for all people, that they be at peace. And with the peace of the kingdom, there is peace in the world.
Bonus Metahalachic Rationale for Doing it Publicly - Good for Appearances
'Why Jews pray for the Queen', Jonathan Romain writing for The Guardian
Princess Margaret was astonished. In 1990 she was attending a service marking the 50th anniversary of Maidenhead synagogue and was struck by the fact that we read a prayer for the good health and wise counsel of the Queen.
When I explained that the prayer was not a one-off but recited every sabbath in every synagogue in Britain, she remarked: "How lovely, they don't do that for us in church; I'll tell my sister."
The Prince of Wales pays tribute to the UK Jewish community at Buckingham Palace reception, 6 December 2019
“The connection between the Crown and our Jewish Community is something special and precious. I say this from a particular and personal perspective because I have grown up being deeply touched by the fact that British synagogues have, for centuries, remembered my Family in your weekly prayers. And as you remember my Family, so we too remember and celebrate you. I am thinking not just of the most prominent members of our Jewish community who, through the ages, have literally transformed this country for the better. I am thinking also, crucially, of those who are not household names, but who are the cornerstones of their own local communities.
Manasseh ben Israel, The Humble Addresses to his Highnesses, the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, 1655
From the continuall and never broken Custome of the Iewes wheresoever they are, on the Sabbath-Day, or other solemne Feasts; at which time all the Iewes from all places come together to the Synagogue, after the benediction of the Holy Law, before the Minister of the Synagogue blesseth the people of the Iewes; with a loud voice he blesseth the Prince of the Country under whom they live, that all the Iewes may heare it, and say, Amen
כתבים של הרב יוסף קאפח א:תצב
...תפילת ״הנותן תשועה״ אינה מצויה בנוסח תימן המקורי כלל וכלל...כי השלטונות והמוני הערבים כבדו מאד את בתי הכנסת, לא התערבו ולא חקרו במה שנעשה ונאמר בהם, ומשום כך לא היו יהודי תימן צריכים להתפלל בפיהם לשלום השלטונות...
Writings of R' Yosef Kapach, Section 1:492
R' Yosef Kapach (1917-2000)
This prayer is not found at all within the liturgy of Yemenite Jews...because the governments and the Arab masses greatly respect the synagogues, they do not intervene or inquire as to what is done and said there, and therefore the Yemenite Jews did not need to pray vocally for the peace of the governments...
Part 3 - The Bad Government Dilemma
ואל נשכח שרומי מכונה פעמים רבות בספרותנו בכינוי "מלכות הרשעה"!
And don't forget that in many places in our holy books Rome is called by the name 'the evil kingdom'!
Apocrypha: Baruch Chapter 1
9 After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them unto Babylon.
10 And they said, Behold, we have sent you money to buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare ye manna, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God;
11 And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:
12 And the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight.
'A Prisoner's Groan': Prayer in Occupied Europe under Nazi Rule (Translated from Hebrew)
Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz (1959-)
The first to react to the situation were the liberal communities, who decided to reformulate the prayer. The task was assigned to the "Liberal Worship Committee of the National Prussian Union of Jewish Communities" which omitted problematic expressions such as "beloved homeland" however, there were liberal communities that preferred to omit the prayer altogether. In the liberal communities in Barda in Westphalia and in Würzburg in Bavaria, the prayer was no longer said in the middle of 1933, and in the liberal communities in Berlin and Mannheim, the saying of the prayer was stopped in the spring months of that year. It seems that in this matter no uniform policy was established and as a result the decision regarding the saying or not saying the prayer was left to the rabbi of the community.
Like their brothers from the progressive stream, the Orthodox communities also sought a compromise in this matter. The Orthodox community in Berlin used the text of the prayer in the "True Language" arrangement, which included the mention of the names of the heads of state and ministers. Sometimes a prayer was also said in German ("for the motherland and the community") - which is basically the same liberal prayer that appears in the "Einhitsgebetbuch" mentioned above. The most prominent example of liturgical pluralism is the example of Frankfurt, a city blessed with several Orthodox communities. In the general Orthodox community, the saying of the prayer probably stopped in the middle of the 1930s. In the large synagogue in the Breuer community where Rabbi Horowitz officiated, the prayer "Hanoten Tshu'a" (and not the Redelheim version) was said by changing the wording of the verse in which the ruler's name is mentioned to the version "And the princes of our country of gracious majesty"; the statement of the prayer continued there until 1938. In the "Kloise" of this community, which was a kind of "Shtibel" under the leadership of Rabbi Breuer, the prayer was not said at all. Even in the synagogues of the immigrants who were in that city, in accordance with the tradition that was practiced in large parts of Eastern Europe, no prayer for the peace of the country was said.
How long did the saying of the prayer last in Germany? We have no unequivocal information, but it can be assumed that after "Kristallnacht" (9/10.11.38) the recitation of the various prayers for the peace of the country that were still in use in some communities stopped.
And what about the practice in other countries where the Nazis ruled? In many communities in Austria after World War I, it was no longer customary to pray for the peace of the country. But similar to the situation in Germany, in the communities where this type of prayer was still said, it continued to be said until "Kristallnacht". No
This is the case in the small Jewish community in the city of Innsbruck in the Tyrol province, where the saying of the prayer stopped immediately after the "Anschluss" (Germany's invasion of Austria on March 13, 1939). The liberals in Vienna,
on the other hand, continued throughout the Nazi period to pray (in German) for the peace of the homeland...
In the large Orthodox community in Antwerp, the "Machzikei Hadat" community, the prayer for the King's peace continues even after the surrender of Belgium. The prayer was said until the burning of the synagogues in April 1941 and this despite the fact that King Leopold collaborated with the Nazi regime. Even in Brussels, the recitation of the prayer continued until the closing of the synagogues in the city. We have no evidence regarding the practice in other cities.
And Finally
ויקיפדיה בשם אהרן ארנד, פרקי מחקר ליום העצמאות, רמת גן, תשנ"ח, עמ' 181
התפילה מתחילה בהתייחסות לה' ומשבצת שני קטעי פסוקים המתחילים ב"הנותן": "הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה לַמְּלָכִים הַפּוֹצֶה אֶת דָּוִד עַבְדּוֹ מֵחֶרֶב רָעָה" (תהילים, קמ"ד, י') ו"הַנּוֹתֵן בַּיָּם דָּרֶךְ וּבְמַיִם עַזִּים נְתִיבָה" (ישעיהו, מ"ג, ט"ז). יש שאמרו שהבחירה בפסוקים אלו אינה מקרית ומרמזת לפסוקים העוקבים, בהתאמה: "פְּצֵנִי וְהַצִּילֵנִי מִיַּד בְּנֵי נֵכָר אֲשֶׁר פִּיהֶם דִּבֶּר שָׁוְא וִימִינָם יְמִין שָׁקֶר" ו"יַחְדָּו יִשְׁכְּבוּ בַּל יָקוּמוּ דָּעֲכוּ כַּפִּשְׁתָּה כָבוּ". על פי הסבר זה, התפילה בנוסחה הגלוי מתפללת לשלום המלכות אך מרמזת לבקשה להצלה מידי מלכויות העמים.
Wikipedia paraphrasing Aharon Arend, Chapters of Inquiry for Independence Day
The prayer begins with a reference to God and intersperses two sections of verses that start with 'Hanoten':
(1) "He who give victory to kings,
who rescue His servant David from the deadly sword." (Psalms 144:10)
and
(2) "Who made a road through the sea
And a path through mighty waters" (Isaiah, 43:16)
There are those who say that the choice of these verses is not accidental and hints to the verses that follow, respectively:
(1) "Rescue me, save me from the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies, and whose oaths are false."
and
(2) "They lay down to rise no more,
They were extinguished, quenched like a wick".
According to this logic, the prayer in its visible formula prays for the peace of the kingdom but hints to a request for the salvation [of the Jewish people] from the hands of the foreign nations.
Samuel Pepys' Diary, Wednesday 14 October 1663
Up and to my office, where all the morning, and part of it Sir J. Minnes spent, as he do every thing else, like a fool, reading the Anatomy of the body to me, but so sillily as to the making of me understand any thing that I was weary of him, and so I toward the ’Change and met with Mr. Grant, and he and I to the Coffee-house, where I understand by him that Sir W. Petty and his vessel are coming, and the King intends to go to Portsmouth to meet it. Thence home and after dinner my wife and I, by Mr. Rawlinson’s conduct, to the Jewish Synagogue: where the men and boys in their vayles, and the women behind a lattice out of sight; and some things stand up, which I believe is their Law, in a press to which all coming in do bow; and at the putting on their vayles do say something, to which others that hear him do cry Amen, and the party do kiss his vayle. Their service all in a singing way, and in Hebrew. And anon their Laws that they take out of the press are carried by several men, four or five several burthens in all, and they do relieve one another; and whether it is that every one desires to have the carrying of it, I cannot tell, thus they carried it round about the room while such a service is singing. And in the end they had a prayer for the King, which they pronounced his name in Portugall; but the prayer, like the rest, in Hebrew. But, Lord! to see the disorder, laughing, sporting, and no attention, but confusion in all their service, more like brutes than people knowing the true God, would make a man forswear ever seeing them more and indeed I never did see so much, or could have imagined there had been any religion in the whole world so absurdly performed as this. Away thence with my mind strongly disturbed with them, by coach and set down my wife in Westminster Hall, and I to White Hall, and there the Tangier Committee met, but the Duke and the Africa Committee meeting in our room, Sir G. Carteret; Sir W. Compton, Mr. Coventry, Sir W. Rider, Cuttance and myself met in another room, with chairs set in form but no table, and there we had very fine discourses of the business of the fitness to keep Sally, and also of the terms of our King’s paying the Portugees that deserted their house at Tangier, which did much please me, and so to fetch my wife, and so to the New Exchange about her things, and called at Thomas Pepys the turner’s and bought something there, and so home to supper and to bed, after I had been a good while with Sir W. Pen, railing and speaking freely our minds against Sir W. Batten and Sir J. Minnes, but no more than the folly of one and the knavery of the other do deserve.