Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Dr. Joshua Loth Liebman on 19 May 1948

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Joshua Loth Liebman and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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18 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:

80th Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, International recognition of Israel, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Dr. Joshua Loth Liebman, rabbi, Temple Israel, Boston, Massachusetts
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 19 May 1948

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O God, Father of all men, we thank Thee for this great Senate of democracy in this hallowed America.
	Cause us to understand that laws are given that men shall live by them^[1] Leviticus 18:5 and not die by them.^[2] Yoma 85b.3
	Inspire these lawgivers to make America an ever more beautiful gem of earth where cooperation shall be the dream and equal justice the dynamic goal— America thus the example to all the world.
	Cause us to realize that now all nations, from the oldest unto the newest, Israel,^[3] The Israeli Declaration of Independence was announced only five days prior, on 14 May 1948. dwell today on the same street of atomic destiny, and therefore we must live and work together so that our children’s children shall have a planet to inherit.
	God, enable these architects of law to build the wider mansion of human welfare— Thy kingdom on earth where all Thy children shall live together “for the blessing of all and the hurt of none, for the joy of all and the woe of none.”^[4] A quotable phrase from an address offered before Hadassah on 25 October 1947 by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver (head of the American section of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and chairman of the American Zionist Emergency Council). “A positive decision at the United Nations will be a victory for the United States and for the Soviet Union… These two great powers have been brought together on the Palestine issue while they fail to see eye to eye on almost every other issue. For the Jewish people, an affirmative decision will mean the beginning of a new epoch in history. The manner in which the Arab peoples react to the decision of the United Nations will also have great consequences for them. It may mean prolonged and costly conflict which will benefit no one, or it may mean cooperating for the regeneration of the entire Near East for the blessing of all and the hurt of none.” Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the second session of the 80th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 94 part 5 (19 May 1948), pp. 6051-6052.

Source(s)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Joshua Loth Liebman (Senate, 19 May 1948), p. 6051

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Joshua Loth Liebman (Senate, 19 May 1948), p. 6052

Notes

Notes
1	Leviticus 18:5
2	Yoma 85b.3
3	The Israeli Declaration of Independence was announced only five days prior, on 14 May 1948.
4	A quotable phrase from an address offered before Hadassah on 25 October 1947 by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver (head of the American section of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and chairman of the American Zionist Emergency Council). “A positive decision at the United Nations will be a victory for the United States and for the Soviet Union… These two great powers have been brought together on the Palestine issue while they fail to see eye to eye on almost every other issue. For the Jewish people, an affirmative decision will mean the beginning of a new epoch in history. The manner in which the Arab peoples react to the decision of the United Nations will also have great consequences for them. It may mean prolonged and costly conflict which will benefit no one, or it may mean cooperating for the regeneration of the entire Near East for the blessing of all and the hurt of none.”

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.)

Joshua Loth Liebman

Joshua Loth Liebman (1907–1948), born in Hamilton, Ohio, was a Reform movement rabbi in the United States and best-selling author, best known for hia self-help book Peace of Mind (1946), which spent more than a year at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Liebman graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1926 after which he was ordained and earned a doctorate from Hebrew Union College. From 1934 to 1939, Liebman served as rabbi of K.A.M. Temple (Chicago, Illinois). In 1939, Liebman became the rabbi of Temple Israel (Boston, Massachusetts). In September 1947, the rabbi and his wife Fan took in a teenager, Leila Bornstein, a Polish-born survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

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 Dr. Joshua Loth Liebman on 19 May 1948

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