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We call you Oséh — Maker[1] Job 25:2. Yotsér — Crafter[2] Genesis 2:7. Poél — Worker.[3] Exodus 15:17.
You, Who labored to build this world in which we live
Who calls us to be Po’alei Tsedek, workers of justice[4] Psalms 15:2. —
We call to you.
Be with all those who labor in the midst of this global pandemic.
Shelter those who grow our food in the field.
Guard those who bring healing in lab and clinic, in hospital and pharmacy.
Guide in peace those who deliver basic needs by road, track, and air.
Uplift those bent low bearing loads in manufacturing and sanitation.
Send love to those who connect us through wire, wave, and cable.
Provide companionship to those who work in solitude,
ease to those who work in anguish,
safety to those who step into harm’s way,
dignity to all whose labor benefits us.
As they raise up their souls to grant us all life[5] Deuteronomy 24:15.
may we repay them in fairness and righteousness.
May our lawmakers and employers assure them a living wage,
health care and sick leave
education, documentation, citizenship
and the right to organize.
All the rights,
human and Divine
due to all beings
created in Your image.
And let us say: Amen.
Rabbi Michael Rothbaum’s “Prayer for Workers in a Time of Pandemic” was first published by the New England Jewish Labor Committee. We are grateful to Arieh Lebowitz (Jewish Labor Committee) and Ari Fertig (New England Jewish Labor Committee) for helping to facilitate the sharing of this important prayer.
“Prayer for Workers in a Time of Pandemic, by Rabbi Michael Rothbaum (New England Jewish Labor Committee 2020)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Michael Rothbaum
Rabbi Michael Rothbaum is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the Academy of Jewish Religion in New York (AJR-NY) where he received his Rabbinic S’mikhah (ordination) in 2006. He graduated from the New College of Florida in 1997 with a BA in Public Policy/Economics. Rabbi Rothbaum was the Campus Rabbi at Hillels of Westchester (NY), during which he served as sole rabbinic figure for students at Sarah Lawrence College and Purchase College. He has served as Director of Congregational Learning at Kehillat Lev Shalem – the Woodstock, NY Jewish Congregation and Rabbi Rothbaum was the rabbi at the Philipstown Reform Synagogue in Cold Spring, NY. Rabbi Rothbaum was Co-Chair of the Bay Area Regional Council of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, as well as Rabbi-Educator at Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville, CA. Rabbi Rothbaum has spoken and taught widely, addressing groups as varied as Moishe House, Jewish Community Relations Council, and Nuns on the Bus. He has appeared in front of audiences at the US Senate and House of Representatives, Oakland City Council, and the New York State Democratic Party. His writing has been included in the Forward, Tikkun, the Huffington Post, and the anthology, “Peace, Justice, and Jews: Reclaiming Our Tradition” (2007).
New England Jewish Labor Committee
The Jewish Labor Committee was formed in February, 1934, by Yiddish-speaking immigrant trade union leaders. In the beginning the purpose was to rescue Jews and Trade Unionists from certain death at the hands of Nazis. The JLC’s leadership helped secure U.S. visas for 2000 union leaders and their families in Eastern Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium. The JLC also raised almost $300,000 to buy weapons that were smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto. Following the war, the Jewish Labor Committee helped settle refugees and helped them find jobs and set up a Holocaust education program. In 1951 the Jewish Labor Committee, through the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), became the official the voice of labor in the Jewish community, speaking in the name of 500,000 North American workers. It was also the voice of the Jewish community in the labor community. After World War II, the JLC focused more on domestic issues, such as anti-discrimination, desegregation and civil rights, the Grape boycott, and the development of trade union human rights programs. It has also worked to protect Soviet Jewry. The JLC organizes support for Israel among the labor community.More recently the National Jewish Labor Committee has focused on the Hyatt Hotel Boycott, supporting Walmart workers as they demand respect and decent working conditions, and immigration reform.
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![Photograph shows half-length portrait of two girls wearing banners with slogan "ABOLISH CH[ILD] SLAVERY!!" in English and Yiddish ("(ני)דער מיט (קינד)ער שקלאפער(ײ)", "Nider mit Kinder Schklawerii"), one carrying American flag; spectators stand nearby. Probably taken during May 1, 1909 labor parade in New York City.](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/1024px-Abolish_child_slavery-250x250.jpg)
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