Contributor(s): Shared on: 15 June 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Tags:
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi William Franklin Rosenblum, of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington, D.C.
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 30 April 1928
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O Lord, our God,
master of the universe,
in whose hands are the souls of all the living and the spirits of all flesh,
Thou who knowest and orderest all things well,
and before whose presence we bow
in adoration and submission,
hallowed be Thy name. | |
On this day we resume our labors
of service to our country and to our Nation
from which we paused to render tribute to a colleague and friend
who has gone to sit in the assembly on high.
His voice will no longer sound in these Halls,
his presence no more abide in our midst,
who but yesterday was eager and alert
in the performance or his duties,
even as we are at this hour. | |
O our God,
now that Thy visitation is past,
may we draw waters of chastening
from the wells of salvation.
May we reconsecrate ourselves to our work
in meekness and in humility,
and thus, in acknowledging our smallness in Thy sight,
hallow ourselves
and ennoble our deeds
in the sight of our fellow men.
May our deliberations and decisions
reflect our convictions.
May we remain blind to artifice and blandishment,
deaf to the sweet accents of flattery
or the ominous murmurings of complaint.
May we have regard only for the advancement of our Nation,
the welfare of its citizens and the peace of humanity,
and thus bear witness before all the world
that Thou art our ruler,
and that Thine is the power
and the glory
and the majesty.
Amen. Amen. |
This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the first session of the 70th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 68 part 7 (30 April 1928), page 7438. Source(s) Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – William Franklin Rosenblum (House of Representatives, 30 April 1928), p. 7438 “Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi William F. Rosenblum on 30 April 1928” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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.)  Rabbi Dr. William Franklin Rosenblum (1892-1962), Grodno, Poland, was a Reform movement rabbi and scholar in the United States. He immigrated with his family to the US in 1897, graduating from the College of the City of New York and earning a law degree at Tulane University. During World War Ⅰ, he served in the United States Navy. In 1926, he was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He was assistant rabbi at synagogues in Steubenville, Ohio, and Washington before assuming the pulpit at Temple Israel (New York City) in 1930. From 1928 to 1933 he served as chaplain in the US Army Reserve. In 1946 and 1948, as an official representative of B'nai B'rith, Rabbi Rosenblum met with Pope Pius Ⅻ in lengthy private audiences. Their discussions were credited with having laid the ground work for improved Christian-Jewish realtions. In 1958, in a demonstration of interfaith action that was regarded as rare at the time, Rabbi Rosenblum took the initiative in organizing a committee of Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish clergymen pledged to raise the moral and spiritual climate of the city: the Committee of Religious Leaders. In 1961 he served a term as president of the New York Military Chaplains Association and conducted Passover Seder services for United States armed forces in Saigon, South Vietnam. In a 1968 sermon, Rabbi Rosenblum asserted that anti-Semitism would evaporate "the moment men are no longer taught that the Jews, in rejecting the idea of a Christ, rejected the ideas of Jesus." He suggested that the Christian church should “emphasize that Jesus not only was born a Jew but that he remained a devout and loyal Jew, never preaching anything but the faith he had learned at his mother's knee and at the feet of his Jewish leaders." A 33rd degree Mason, Rabbi Rosenblum was for many years grand chaplain of the Grand Lodge of New York. He also was president of the Association of Reform Rabbis and the Synagogue Council 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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