Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Gustav N. Hausmann on 12 December 1918

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Gustav N. Hausmann and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Shared on:

14 June 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

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

Tags:

65th Congress, 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot, Versailles Peace Treaty, World War Ⅰ

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Gustav N. Hausmann, Litt. D, of New York City
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 12 December 1918

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Merciful God and Heavenly Father, Thou who didst grant unto us the privilege of being victorious on the side of right against might; Thou who didst choose America to enlighten the nations of the earth; Thou who didst endow us with the gift and spirit of democracy, we beseech Thee to continue to guide and lead us. Make us worthy of these blessings.
	May our victories, triumphs, and successes not make us arrogant and haughty. May it not be said of this new-chosen Nation what was said of the ancient-chosen people: “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked * * * then he forsook the God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” (Deuteronomy 32:15)
	Bless, O God, this great Republic with abundance and honor, with peace and good will.
	We especially beseech Thee to bless, shield, and protect the President of the United States, the crusader of modern democracy.
	Bless the Congress of the United States of America, that it may truly exemplify democracy, equality, and justice. May the deliberations at the peace conference abroad^[1] A reference to the early planning for the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920). President Woodrow Wilsom left the United States for France on 13 December 1918. result for the great benefit of humanity and redound to the honor of this Nation. May Thy name thus be glorified in and through us. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the first month of the third session of the 65th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 57 part 1 (12 December 1918), pp. 336-337.

Source(s)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Gustav Hausmann (Senate, 12 December 1918), p. 336

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Gustav Hausmann (Senate, 12 December 1918), p. 337

Notes

Notes
1	A reference to the early planning for the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920). President Woodrow Wilsom left the United States for France on 13 December 1918.

Aharon N. Varady (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.)

Gustav N. Hausmann

Rabbi Gustav N. Hausmann (1860-1948), born in Poland, was a Reform movement rabbi in the United States. After graduating from the yeshivah in Przemyśl, he came to Chicago and graduated from the University of Chicago. In1896, he was introduced as the "Boy Orator of Jerusalem" at Republican party rallies in Chicago where he spoke in Yiddish in promotion of the Republican party platform. In 1897 he began serving Temple Emanuel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. From there, he went on to serve as chaplain of the University of Michigan, Harvard, Brown and Columbia. In New York City in 1922, he helped to found the Community Synagogue in the Lower East Side.

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)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=67706

Associated Image:

Flag of the United States Senate

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

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

Properly attribute the work to Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Gustav N. Hausmann and the Congressional Record of the United States of America.
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=67706>.
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 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.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, 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.

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 Gustav N. Hausmann on 12 December 1918

Source(s)

Read a comment / Leave a comment (moderated)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply