Contributor(s): Shared on: 16 June 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Tags: 74th Congress, 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., anti-fascist, anti-Nazi, English vernacular prayer, Great Depression in the United States, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot, the Holocaust, World War Ⅱ
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Edward Sandrow, of the Ahavai Sholom Congregation, Portland, Oregon
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 3 February 1936
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Almighty God,
Father of all men
regardless of race, color, or creed,
we invoke Thy blessing
upon this assemblage of American leaders,
the Representatives of the masses of people
of our beloved country. | |
Inspire, we pray Thee, these men and women
to the realization
that in spite of economic turbulence,
in spite of national and international uncertainty,
America, if it has faith in its past,
if it clings to those lofty principles
of liberty, tolerance, and democracy
upon which this Nation was founded;
if it stands united,
wholeheartedly firm and cooperative,
as did the fathers of this Nation
when they laid down their lives
for political liberty
and freedom of conscience;
if it has hope,
if it has an unflinching divine hope in its future,
then all the difficulties,
all those depressing moments
through which our country has gone
in the last few years
will vanish from the heart and from the soul
of the American people. | |
Give these men and women of the Congress, O Eternal,
the strength of character
and the sturdiness of will
to keep from our free shores
the spirit of religious prejudice,
of racial animosity,
of ill-will and misunderstanding
so common in other parts of the world
but so alien to America. | |
Make them continue to appreciate America,
to admire its hills
and its valleys,
to love its songs
and the beauty of its spirit—
not with arrogant chauvinism
but with humility and respect—
so that all people of this Nation may climb
from this time and forever
to greater spiritual heights
and physical achievement,
so that these United States
may always be the home of the free,
the towering edifice of all that is noble in life,
and the people of this country may achieve
the happiness and the security
which so concerns this Congress. | |
May this be Thy will, O God,
and let us say, Amen. |
This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the second session of the 74th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 80 part 2 (3 February 1936), pp. 1363-1364. Source(s) Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Edward Sandrow (House of Representatives, 3 February 1936). p. 1363  Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Edward Sandrow (House of Representatives, 3 February 1936). p. 1364
“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Edward Sandrow on 3 February 1936” 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 Edward T. Sandrow (1906–1975), born in Philadelphia, was a Conservative movement rabbi and communal leader in the United States. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1933. He served pulpits in Portland, Oregon and Cedarhurst, Long Island before becoming entering Academia. He was a teaching fellow at New York University a visiting professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, first of homiletics (1954–56, 1962–63) and later of pastoral psychiatry (1963 onwards). He became president of the Rabbinical Assembly of America (1960–62) and of the New York Board of Rabbis (1966–67) where he served as chairman of the board of governors (1968–70). He was a member of the board of directors of the American Friends of the Hebrew University (1968–1975), an alternate member of the board of governors of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and a member of the boards of directors of the Joint Distribution Committee, the Zionist Organization of America, and the National Jewish Welfare Board. He was also chairman of the commission on Jewish chaplaincy of the latter organization. From 1960 he served as chairman of the board of Hadoar. He was co-author of Young Faith, a prayer book with music for children. 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) Read a comment / Leave a comment (moderated) Works of related interest: |
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