[Avodah] tehilas Hashem in shir hamaalos

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Daniel Bukingolts asked:
> Does anybody know the source for the "tehilas Hashem..."
> addition to shir hamaalos in bentching and why do many
> people say it is anti zionist to include it?

I have no idea what the source is for it, but I can tell you that we said it at all the Shabbatonim which I attended from around 1967-1977, which were run by Yeshiva University's Youth Bureau. I should also add that we also added two Harachamans: one for the State of Israel, and another for Soviet Jewry. (I was even one of the editors of the bencher that was published for those events, and it included all three of those additions.)

But I'd hardly ever heard any of them said anywhere else. And until very recently, I'd hardly ever seen any siddur include them (though some benchers have). That's why I've always presumed that it is said by the *pro*Zionists. This is the first I've heard of it being *anti*Zionist.

As for the idea that anti-Zionists would want to "tone down" the pro-Zionist mood of Shir Hamaalos, I find that hard to believe. Are there any anti-Zionists who have tried to tone down the pro-Zionist mood of Yom Tov Musaf? Or of any of dozens of other tefilos?

Akiva Miller

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