Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (29 November 1866)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Sabato Morais

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20 August 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November), United States of America

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19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Philadelphia, English vernacular prayer, Ḳ.Ḳ. Miḳveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Praise and thanksgiving belong to Thee, Omnipotent, God! Oh, deign to accept the feeble acknowledgment of Thy servants, who bow reverently at the footstool of Thy mercy.
	We thank Thee, O, Father, for having created us with an intelligent mind, capable of appreciating Thy goodness. We are grateful to Thee for having nourished us with care, and sustained us with benignity. It was Thy hand that brought healing to our diseases, and shielded us from death, it was Thy watchful providence that averted from us many ills to which we have been exposed.
	Let Thy loving kindness, O, Lord, be ever shown to Thy children, who unitedly extol Thy name. With one sweet accord of voices they acknowledge that from Thee have proceeded the unlimited blessings showered down upon this land. For, verily, Thou hast upheld its institutions, improved and enlarged their usefulness, and drawn toward them the respect of enlightened nations.
	Grant, O God, that the glory attained may never be tarnished by the fumes of anger or passion. Let, we fervently beseech Thee, harmony and forbearance direct the highest as the lowest authorities of this Republic, so that they may labor with one mind and with one heart, to restore it to perfect stability and peace.
	Parent of all good! withhold not Thy countenance from the lowly of the earth, and teach us to raise them from their abject state, by means of a fostering education.
	Bless all the inhabitants of the United States. May the law of progress ever be the standard of their actions, adding sublimity to their greatness, and enhancing their happiness.
	Bless all the human race, and may it all soon be linked into one bond of brotherhood, acknowledging that Thou art the only God and Savior, who takest delight in Thy children’s united thanksgiving. Amen!

This Thanksgiving Day prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered in conclusion to a sermon reprinted the following day in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 30 November 1866. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 25, clipping 031), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.)

Source(s)

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1866-11-29] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 25, clipping 031)

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“Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (29 November 1866)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Sabato Morais

Rabbi Sabato Morais (שבתאי מוראיס; April 13, 1823 – November 11, 1897) was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and in 1886, co-founder (with Henry Pereira Mendes) of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America to preserve the knowledge and practice of traditional, historical rabbinic Judaism in the United States.

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Works of related interest:

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1864-11-24] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 23, clipping 028)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1864)

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1867-11-28] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 35, clipping 042) - cropped

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (28 November 1867)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day on the First Day of Ḥanukkah during the Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (28 November 1861)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1868)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1870)

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1873-11-27] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 61) - cropped

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1873)

Thanksgiving Day [1851] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 2, clipping 001)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1851)

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Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1866-11-29] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 25, clipping 031)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17