This is the prayer offered at the “Memorial Service on Friday, 15th February, 1952 (Eve of Sabbath, 19th Shebat, 5712) at the New West End Synagogue (London, W. 2) for His Late Majesty King George (VI)” as given by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (officiated by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld and Rabbi Dr. A. Altmann, M.A. [Joint Deputies for the Chief Rabbi], the Rev. Ephraim Levine, M.A., the Rev. R.H. Levy, M.A.). Many thanks to Jeffrey Maynard for providing the page images of the service containing this prayer at his blog, Jewish Miscellanies.

A prayer for planting a tree or trees.

A prayer composed for a ceremony honoring the tenure of Charles Henry Martens, mayor of East Orange, New Jersey on his retirement from three decades of civic service.

This untitled prayer written by Isaac Bashevis Singer on the back of a receipt (dated 1 March 1952) was discovered by David Stromberg in 2014 in the archives at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, and published online by Tablet (1, 2) with permission of the Susan Schulman Literary Agency.

A bilingual Yiddish-English anthology of teḥinot containing 21 prayers compiled and translated by Rabbi Solomon Rubinstein soon after

A seder seliḥot (a penitential prayer service) for the first day of seliḥot, in the week prior to Rosh ha-Shanah, as prepared and translated by Philip Paltiel Birnbaum and published by Hebrew Publishing Co., in 1952.

סידור שלם לכל תפלות השבת Volledige Sidoer vir die Sabbat (1952) was prepared by Rabbi Dr. Moses Romm (1897-1976) and presents the first ever translation of Jewish liturgy into Afrikaans (as far as we know).

In our continuing effort to expose the foundations of Open Source Judaism in Jewish source texts, we have made a transcription of Rabbi Ally Ehrman’s shiur (lesson) explaining Rabbi Yitsḥoq Hutner’s ראש השנה מאמר ב “Rosh Hashana Ma’amar 2” (circa 1950s) published in Paḥad Yitsḥoq, (a compendium of Rabbi Hutner’s teachings from the 1950s until his death in 1983). The ma’amar is an explication of the verse in Proverbs and familiar to anyone that sings Eyshet Ḥayil before the Sabbath evening meal, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and a loving-kind Torah is on her tongue,” (Proverbs 31:26). The ma’amar weaves ideas by the Maharal from Gevurot Hashem (6:4) commenting on the gemarah in Talmud Bavli Sukkah 49b that the meaning of Torat Ḥesed (loving-kind torah) is a torah learned with the intention of being retransmitted. Via the MaHaRaL, Rabbi Hutner teaches that this effort in giving is an act of loving-kindness whereby a new work is made freely and shared completely without any diminution of the source, the giver, or the recipient.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the third month of the first session of the 82nd US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 97 part 2 (1 March 1951), p. 1741.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 February 1951.

This closing ceremony for Flag Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), pp. 133-135.

This opening prayer for Flag Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 117

This opening prayer for Arbor Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day.

“Closing Prayer [for Labor Day]” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165.

This closing prayer for Arbor Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 86.

This opening prayer for Thanksgiving Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 304 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day.

This closing prayer for United Nations Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 272-273.

This closing prayer for Thanksgiving Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 327-328 — following at the end of a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day.

This opening prayer-essay for Lincoln’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951) — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day.

A prayer offered for parents praying for the safety and welfare of their adult children entering the armed forces.

This prayer by Rabbi Dr. David de Sola Pool was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 72-73.

This prayer by Rabbi Dr. Edgar Magnin, then serving as rabbi of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), p. 51.

A prayer for a Nurse’s Commencement ceremony at Beth Israel Hospital on 19 September 1951.

This prayer by Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, then President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), p. 11.

A prayer offered at a ceremony honoring the graduated of the New Jersey State Teachers’ College in Newark in 1951.

A prayer for Brotherhood Week, written in 1951.

This opening prayer for Washington’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951).

This closing prayer for Washington’s Birthday as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951).

“Dignity of Labor” is a prayer for Labor Day first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.176-177.

“Opening Prayer on the Significance of [Labor] Day” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165.

This prayer by Brigadier General Julius Klein was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), p. 47. The anthology notes that “Accompanying the prayer of General Klein, National Commander of Jewish War Veterans, U.S.A., is this message: ‘I wish to express the deep-seated conviction that this book of prayers will be warmly received by a world which is very much in need of closer contact with God.’”

This opening prayer for United Nations Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 249-250.

“War Can Be Abolished,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 262-265.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 April 1951.

A prayer for intellectual honesty before study.

This opening prayer for New Year’s Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day.

“On Entering a Child in Religious School” is the thirteenth prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occassions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 55-56.

“[Prayer for a] Silver or Golden Wedding Anniversary” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), on page 33.

“[Prayer for a] Birthday Celebration” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), page 31.

“A Prayer of Re-dedication” (also simply called “Rededication”) is the thirty-fifth prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 199. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot). A close read of the prayer suggests to me that this prayer was written in the shadow of World War Ⅱ and the Holocaust, giving voice to concerns over Jewish continuity in the midst of post–World War II economic expansion and largess in the United States.

“Lead Us, Lord” (also called, “God’s Guidance”) is the thirty-seventh prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 201. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot).

“Repentance” is the thirty-sixth prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 200. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot).

“Prayer After Passing Through Danger” is the second prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occasions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 42.

“[Prayer for] Thanksgiving Day” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 29-30.

“On Taking a Journey” is the first prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occasions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 41.

“Beginning a New Enterprise” is the third prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occassions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 43-44.

“Family Ceremony for the Consecration of a New Home” is the first ritual ceremony found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 7-11.

The Union Home Prayer Book (1951) is an anthology of prayers for family and personal use following in the tradition of the Seder Teḥinot and many earlier anthologies of private (non-communal) prayer practice. In the largest section, “Meditations,” the collection re-published 36 of the prayers from CCAR’s ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (1923), omitting 15. To these, three new prayers were added, along with some new sections: “Family Worship,” “Personal Prayers for Special Occassions,” “Prayers for Night and Morning,” and “Prayers in Time of Sickness and Death.”

A bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook for Shabbat, Festivals, and Weekdays, prepared in 1951 by Rabbi Max D. Klein for his congregation Adath Jeshurun, a Conservative synagogue in Philadelphia.

A collection of civic prayers, poems, and readings arranged for thirteen civic holidays in the United States.