Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 1 October 1942

Contributor(s):

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

Shared on:

17 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:

77th Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot, World War Ⅱ

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld, D.D., minister, Washington Hebrew Congregation
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 1 October 1942

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, the love in our hearts:
	Bless Thou the deliberations of this body, so that freemen will find the leadership for an age of courage and of faith, so that freemen will have strength to go forward and build Thy world of righteousness.
	Be Thou with these good men who bear the burden of the conscience of this blessed land. Establish Thou, O God, the labor of their souls, and grant unto the generations to come an abundant harvest of the seeds the brave hearts of our time are sowing.
	Guide our country and guard our sons and lead us onward in Thy vision. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the tenth month of the second session of the 77th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 88 part 6 (1 October 1942), p. 7661.

Source(s)

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.)

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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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 Norman Gerstenfeld on 1 October 1942

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