Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Alfred G. Moses on 16 June 1939

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Alfred Geiger Moses and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Shared on:

16 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:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., 76th Congress, English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Alfred G. Moses, Government Street Temple, Mobile, Alabama
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 16 June 1939

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Our God and God of our fathers, God of America and all mankind, into Thy presence have we come to dedicate ourselves to Thee and Thy enduring kingdom of truth, justice, and liberty.
	Here and now do we conjoin with these splendid delegates of a free nation to think, to labor, and to legislate for the government of the people, by the people, for the people.^[1] A memorable quote from the Gettysburg Address of President Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863.
	Send Thy Holy Spirit into our midst, that in all our works, continued and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy sacred name and build up the house of America, not made by hands, eternal in the heaven.
	Bless the President and Vice President of these United States, our beloved Speaker, upon whose able shoulders rests the Elijah-like mantle of a beloved, honored father. Fill them and all our citizens with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of the knowledge and fear of Thee. (Isaiah 11:2)
	As we stand in this historic forum of democracy, teach us from Thy living word^[2] i.e., the TaNaKh that righteousness exalteth a nation and that sin is a reproach to the people. (Proverbs 14:34)
	Finally, may our vision of a greater America be realized in the imperial poem written by a brilliant daughter of our people:^[3] The final stanza of Katharine Lee Bates’s patriotic hymn, “America the Beautiful” (1895).
	Oh, beautiful for patriot dreams That sees beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears. America, America, God shed His grace on thee, And crown Thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea.
	Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the first session of the 76th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 84 part 7 (16 June 1939), p. 7280.

Source(s)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Alfred G. Moses (House of Representatives, 16 June 1939), p. 7280

Notes

Notes
1	A memorable quote from the Gettysburg Address of President Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863.
2	i.e., the TaNaKh
3	The final stanza of Katharine Lee Bates’s patriotic hymn, “America the Beautiful” (1895).

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.)

Alfred Geiger Moses

Alfred Geiger Moses (1878–1956), born in Livingston, Alabama, was a Reform movement rabbi the United States and the founder of Jewish Science (a response to the Christian Science movement). His father was Rabbi Alfred S. Moses (1840-1902). Alfred G. Moses received his rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnat in 1901. He served as the rabbi of Sha'arai Shomayim (Mobile, Alabama) from 1901 to 1940. In 1916, he published Jewish Science: Divine Healing in Judaism which sought to raise awareness of spirituality in Jewish prayer. Rabbi Moses sought to persuade Reform Jews attracted to Christian Science and the New Though Movement that spirituality could be found within Judaism. The title was republished in an expanded edition, Jewish Science: Psychology of Health, Joy and Success or the Applied Psychology of Judaism (1920).

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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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. House of Representatives: Rabbi Alfred G. Moses on 16 June 1939

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