In Pirkei Avos, chapter 3 mishnah 2, we learn in the name of Rabbi Chanina, the deputy Kohen Gadol: "Hevei mispallel bishlomah shel malchus, she'ilmalei mora'ah ish es re'eihu chayim bala'u" - a person is obligated to pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear of it, people would swallow one another alive.
Who was Rabbi Chanina, the deputy Kohen Gadol:
Rabbi Chanina was the officer appointed over the kohanim - second in rank, the right hand of the Kohen Gadol. He lived at the end of the Second Temple period, literally on the eve of the destruction, during the years of Rome's failed administration of Judea. It seems he was the worthiest of the kohanim: in that era the High Priesthood had become an office purchased with money, and most of those who held it were not worthy of the title. The fact that Rabbi Chanina remained second in command - whether because he was unwilling or because he was unable to attain the position - and in any case did not pay for the office, teaches that he was in fact the worthiest of them all, even though he was not the one who actually served as Kohen Gadol.
The deputy's role was not limited to standing at the right hand of the Kohen Gadol, both literally and figuratively. He also served as his stand-in, as explained in Maseches Yoma: if the Kohen Gadol was prevented from performing the service on Yom Kippur or the like, the deputy was the one who did it in his place.
The period in which these words were said:
Rabbi Chanina lived in a politically charged era, without leadership and extremely turbulent. Great chaos raged in Jerusalem and its surroundings:
Rival factions and the zealots.
The quarrels between the Perushim and the Tzedukim.
The Romans from the outside.
Internal wars among the Jews themselves over control of the Galilee and the like.
And nevertheless Rabbi Chanina says: "Hevei mispallel bishlomah shel malchus" - and in this case the reference is to the Roman government, for his view is that anarchy, the absence of government, is worse. This is the point that rings true: apart from the most extreme cases, any government, any rule of law and any order, is preferable to a lack of order, a lack of government and a lack of the rule of law, in which every person looks out only for himself.
"Ish es re'eihu chayim bala'u":
In a state of anarchy, where each person looks out only for himself, anyone with the ability - the physically strong and the like - will protect his own interests even against the most trivial infringement. The image of swallowing one's fellow alive highlights two things:
Swallowing a person means killing him, that is, the most severe penalty of all. Who wants to be killed? There is nothing more terrible than that.
Swallowing him while he is still alive means minimal benefit for the one doing the swallowing. This calls to mind the verse that compares people to fish, since fish swallow one another alive; but even the one who swallows alive does not enjoy the taste, and does not derive from it the pleasure he would have derived in other ways.
The lesson: for the sake of a minimal gain, a person in a state of anarchy is prepared to destroy and kill his rival, because he cannot afford to leave any space at all for another - every man for himself.
Given that, it is clear that a person cannot grow spiritually or flourish in such a situation, and certainly cannot sit and learn Torah. It is impossible, since he has to be guarding himself the entire time. Rabbi Chanina, the Deputy Kohen Gadol, therefore instructs us to pray for stability, even under a relatively corrupt government.
The Bartenura adds a noteworthy precision here: "va'afilu shel umos ha'olam" - even if it is a government of gentiles, we are obligated to pray for its welfare, for its stability and for the peace of society. And how much more so, of course, if it is a Jewish government running affairs.
The Prayer for the Welfare of the Government in Shul:
It is brought in halachah that it has been the custom of Israel from ancient times, from a point so far back that no one knows how long, to say a prayer for the welfare of the government in shul on Shabbos morning. The wording deserves attention: we say "malchus" (kingdom) and not "melech" (king) - the prayer is not about the specific leader alone, but about the entire government:
The leader himself - the king, the emperor, the prime minister or whoever is in charge.
Those around him - the advisors of that leader.
The infrastructure - the court system and the like.
All of these find expression in ensuring that order prevails and that people receive justice in society.
From here a question arises: if we pray even for the welfare of a corrupt gentile society, how much more so in a Jewish society. Why, then, do many shuls in Eretz Yisrael deliberately refrain from saying a prayer for the State, while outside of Eretz Yisrael most shuls say a prayer for the government, as is fitting for them, and also for the State of Israel?
Anyone who lives in Israel and whose shul does not follow this practice would do well to clarify the matter with the rav of the shul, for our Mishnah clearly instructs that this should be done.
In some versions of the Mishnah the Mishnah ends here, and in others it continues further. We will define this point as the end of Mishnah 2, and we will begin the next Mishnah with the words of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon as Mishnah 3.