Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Alfred Cohen on 27 January 1972

Contributor(s):

Alfred Cohen and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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2 February 2024 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

92nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Alfred Cohen of the Synagogue of Young Israel of Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York
Date of Prayer: 27 January 1972
Sponsor: n/a

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	God of wisdom and glory, we who are ever humble in Thy presence, stand before Thee in prayer for Thy guidance and compassionate understanding.
	Bless us with searching hearts and open minds that will ever be sensitive to the many needs of our countrymen.
	Bestow Thy blessing of wisdom upon the President and Vice President of our country and upon all the Members of this august body. Strengthen their efforts and inspire their endeavors, so that suffering and evil will be stricken from the face of the earth. Equip them with the courage to champion the cause of justice, and determination to bring the blessings of freedom and equality to all men.
	Assure us, dear Lord, of Your inspiration, and bless the work of our hands.^[1] Cf. Psalms 90:17/
	By Thy grace, let peace, justice, and brotherhood reign over our land. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered near the beginning of the first session of the 92nd US Congress. The source images of the prayer were copied by Howard Mortman and shared via his @CongressRabbi Twitter account. All credit to Howard Mortman for his research in digging up this prayer. Unfortunately, neither the source images nor his tweets provide an exact citation reference to the volume, issue, and page number of the Congressional Record in which the prayer was published. If you know, leave a comment, or contact us.

Source(s)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain (Alfred Cohen, 27 January 1972)

Notes

Notes
1	Cf. Psalms 90:17/

Alfred Cohen

Rabbi Alfred Cohen, maggid shiur at MTA, received semikhah from Rabbi Yisrael Gustman and from Rabbi Hutner of Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin and served for many years as the mora d'asra (leader of the congregation) of the Young Israel of Canarsie.

the Congressional Record of the United States of America

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Printing Office and issued when Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks. At the end of a session of Congress, the daily editions are compiled in bound volumes constituting the permanent edition. Statutory authorization for the Congressional Record is found in Chapter 9 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (wikipedia)

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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 volunteer contributors, or its 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.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Alfred Cohen on 27 January 1972

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