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

Contributor(s):

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

Shared on:

24 November 2022 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

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

Tags:

57th century A.M., Philadelphia, English vernacular prayer, Ḳ.Ḳ. Miḳveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Panic of 1873, 19th century C.E.

TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):

ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!

COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.

TABLE HELP

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Ruler of the Universe! Beneficent Lord! Thou hast satisfied us with the abundance of Thy house. Thou gavest for our heritage a country rich and extensive. The sea encircles it as a girdle of strength; mountains crown it with majesty. And to make it happy as it is powerful, and glorious as it is far-reaching, Thou didst set a throne in the midst thereof, for Heaven born freedom. His countenance, ever radiant with Thy celestial goodness, should smile upon the work of industry, and fire rare genius.
	And now, Omnipotent Being! this people Thou hast so signally blessed, prepare to show the family of nations Thy wonders, that with exalted spirits all may turn to their Creator and obtain salvation and support. Let our hearts, we beseech Thee, be cleansed from the dross of pride, and from the stain of vain glory. May the years preceding the determined festival find us engaged in deeds of self purification. Thus, when the season to which we joyfully look forward arrives, we will be declared by Thee worthy of securing millennial periods of greatness for America.
	We thank thee, O watchful Shepherd! for the sense of right that dictated improvements in the organic laws of this Commonwealth, and wholesome reforms in our courts of justice. Uphold the hands which grapple with bold wickedness, and let them not grow weary until virtue wins the victory.— Deign to accept our united acknowledgment of the Divine favors Thou didst bestow during the twelve months since we last nationally met. We own as Thy gifts the food which has sustained our bodies, the domestic pleasures which has sustained our souls, and the peace which unfolded and increased the resources of our cherished land.
	We recognize as a token of Thy paternal love, the temporary commercial stringency experienced, rebuking extravagance and teaching moderation.^[1] A reference to the economic depression resulting from the Panic of 1873.
	We are grateful unto Thee, also, for that all-elevating charity of which Thou hast made us capable, and which effectually assuaged the sorrows of our brethren in the far South. Grant that never again we may apply it to a purpose so grievous and distressing. May the ills that scourged Memphis and Shreveport be now and always a tale of the past. But let the feelings which our fraternal compassion engendered endure everlastingly, and bind in a silvery chain of affection the forty millions who jubilantly offer Thee thanksgiving. Amen.

This Thanksgiving Day prayer was offered by Rabbi Sabato Morais at the end of his sermon at Mikve Israel in Philadelphia on 27 November 1873, and reprinted in The Jewish Messenger on 5 December 1873. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 61), 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 [1873-11-27] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 61)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	A reference to the economic depression resulting from the Panic of 1873.

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1873)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal 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.

Pocket Pinterest Reddit 𝕏 Facebook Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email

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

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

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 [1853] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 3, clipping 002) - c

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1853)

prev next

Comments, Corrections, and QueriesCancel reply

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=47605

Associated Image:

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

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Source Data: XML | JSON

Re-formatted: HTML | ODT

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Sabato Morais.
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=47605>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of contributors, patrons, or institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.

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