Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 2 June 1959

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Norman Gerstenfeld and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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

Categories:

Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, United States of America

Tags:

20th century C.E., integrity, תחינות teḥinot, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, 86th Congress, anti-corruption

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld, Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington, D.C.
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 2 June 1959

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Thou who art the shield of our hopes, the tower of strength of our souls, the guide of our hands, the vision of our courage, and the love in our hearts; Thou who art the source of the law of righteousness, the disciplines of character that build the foundations of a just humanity: Strengthen Thou the skills of our mind and the devotion of our hearts, so that we shall be the revealers of Thy truth and the instruments of Thy guidance unto our fellow men.
	Lift up our hearts, so that we shall never forget that man lives not by bread alone but by the integrities of our lives, by the high standards of our skills, by the truth of our conscience, by the good will of our souls, and by the will for the common good beyond the line of duty.
	Stiffen Thou the sinews of our lives, so that we shall guard the altars of our community from the expediency that corrupts and the apathy that kills, from the treachery that takes in vain the name of freedom and the apostasy that, would sell our heritage for a mess of pottage, from the partisanship that would make us the tools of slander and reduce us to the self-righteousness that would inflict cruelty against those who differ with us in the counsels of free men.
	Guide us in our deliberations and guard us in our utterances, so that winning the next election will not take priority over our duty as witnesses to the next generation, as testimony of the gracious spirit of free men.
	Lead us so that from this gathering there shall come new light into our age and the vision of days of new blessing yet to be, when the world shall be filled with the knowledge of a righteous God, even as the waters cover the seas.^[1] Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the first session of the 86th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 105 part 7 (2 June 1959), page 9508.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 105, part 7 (2 June 1959), p. 9508

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14.

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 2 June 1959” 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.)

Norman Gerstenfeld

Norman Gerstenfeld (1904-1968), born in London, was a prominent Reform rabbi in the United States. He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Cincinnati and also held a degree from American University in Washington, D.C. From 1935, he was a Fellow in Jewish Philosophy at the HUC. He became an assistant rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation in 1935, a synagogue that had been in disarray and decline for several decades. Three years later he became senior rabbi of the congregation.

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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Works of related interest:

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 18 April 1955

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 29 April 1946

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Morris Silverman on 19 February 1959

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Geller on 11 April 1989

Flag of the United States House of Representatives

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Norman Zdanowitz on 21 February 1966

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Emmet Allen Frank on 26 June 1968

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Harold P. Smith on 27 June 1963

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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