The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 7 March 1950.

A prayer for the continuance of “the American way of life” offered during the Cold War (1947-1953) in northern New Jersey.

Source (Hebrew) Contribute a translation בִּרְעָדָה וְיִרְאָה בָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ כִּי מִי לֹא יִירָא מֵאֵימָת דִּינֶךָ, בְּגִילָה וְצָהֲלָה נַעֲמוֹד לִפְנֵי כִסֵא מִשְׁפָּטֶךָ, כִּי אַתָּה חַנוּן וְרַחוּם לְכָל דּוֹרְשֶיךָ, טוֹב וְסַלָּח וְרַב חֶסֶד לְכָל קוֹרְאֶיךָ. נַקֵּנוּ יי מִטֻּמְאַת מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵינוּ. טַהֲרֵנוּ וְכַפֵּר פְּשָׁעֵינוּ וְעַווֹנֵינוּ, לֵב טָהוֹר בְּרָא לָנוּ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְרוּחַ נָכוֹן חַדֵּשׁ בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ, וְלֹא נָשׁוּב עוֹד לְכִסְלָה בְרוֹעַ […]

“Dedication of Medical Research Clinic” was first published in Rabbi Avraham Soltes’ collection of prayers, תפלה Invocation: Sheaf of Prayers (Bloch 1959).

This prayer, initially delivered by Rabbi Joseph Baron as an invocation at the opening of the 12th U.A.W.-C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, July 1949, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 81-82. The prayer was selected for the anthology by Walter P. Reuther (1907-1970), a Lutheran, a leader of organized labor, and a civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history.

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.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 28 April 1948.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on Lincoln’s Birthday, 12 February 1948.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English with its translations in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino.

A prayer for United Nations Day, the anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.

This “Closing Prayer” for New Year’s Day was adapted by Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn from a prayer first published by unnamed “Members of the Faculty” of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School (The Colgate-Rochester Divinity School Bulletin, “Prayers for the New Year,” vol. 19 no. 2 (1947), pp. 65-71). Kaplan & Kohn’s adapted prayer essentially contains excerpts from the prayer of the Faculty (excluding any with explicit Christian content). The adapted prayer was published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 25-26. –Aharon Varady

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 30 January 1947.

This prayer by Rabbi Dudley Weinberg, National Chaplain of AMVETS after World War II, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 79-80. The prayer was chosen for publication by the then National Commander of AMVETS, Harold Russell.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 29 April 1946.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 6 June 1945.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 26 February 1945.

“Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 433-4 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945).

A civic prayer for the Sabbath occurring during Brotherhood Week (February 19th-28th) in the United States.

“God the Life of Nature” by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan was first published in his Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 382-391, where it appears side-by-side with its translation into Hebrew by Abraham Regelson.

A prayer for Independence Day in the United States by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, prefaced by an abridged reading of the Declaration of Independence.

A service and prayer for Memorial Day in the United States, containing a variation of El Malé Raḥamim, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan.

A prayer-poem by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan based on the writings of Rabbi Leo Baeck, as published in the Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p.426-7.

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of Nature” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on pages 553-556 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Man, Israel, and America respectively.

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of Man” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on pages 556-557 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Nature, Israel, and America respectively.

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of Israel” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on page 558 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Nature, Man, and America respectively.

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of America” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on pages 559-560 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Nature, Man, and Israel, respectively.

“Interdependence” by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) was originally written for the 50th Anniversary of the World’s Young Women’s Christian Association, 19 November 1944. The prayer was included by Rabbi Morrison David Bial in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 55. It’s likely that Rabbi Bial first read the prayer in an anthology of prayer by Stephen Hole Fritchman, Prayers of the Free Spirit (1945), p. 38.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 June 1944 on the eve of D-Day in World War Ⅱ.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the first session of the 78th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 89 part 3 (11 May 1943), p. 4196.

A memorial prayer for service members lost in times of war, given by a chaplain who sacrificed his life for others during WWII.

This “Special Prayer for Our Soldiers and Sailors” edited by Rabbi Aaron Dym is found just after the preface to the siddur, סדור תפלת ישראל: כולל כל התפלות לכל השנה (Ziegelheim: 1943).

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.

This prayer by Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943) was first publicly read in 1942 in the course of a United Nations Day speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 May 1942.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 21 April 1942.

“The Pious Man” is a prayer-poem from Mordecai Kaplan’s diary entry, September 19, 1942, on the virtue of piety as expressed in an essay published earlier that year by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Piety was a Roman virtue, but in this essay, A.J. Heschel appears to be describing an idealization of Ḥasidut.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the twelfth month of the first session of the 77th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 87 part 9 (1 December 1941), pp. 9252-9253.

The four freedoms as articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his address before the 77th Congress of the United States.

This “Prayer in Temptation” can be found in the Abridged Prayer Book for the Jews in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1941), p. 120. As far as we know, this prayer is unique to this prayerbook, although the text recalls the waking prayer “Elohai Neshama.”

This “Prayer for Home” can be found in the Abridged Prayer Book for the Jews in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1941), p. 119.

This prayer for the United States of America was offered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his Radio Campaign Address at Hyde Park, New York on 4 November 1940. The prayer was adapted by Roosevelt from one he referred to it in his speech as “an old prayer.” That prayer was originally offered by Rev. Anson Phelps Stoke, canon of the Washington Cathedral (Washington DC), a guest chaplain before the Senate on 25 April 1932. Roosevelt, or a speech write, adapted the text of the prayer by removing the final line, thereby making the prayer a more inclusive and ecumenical civic prayer.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the second session of the 76th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 86 part 2 (8 February 1940), pp. 1230-1231.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the second session of the 76th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 85 part 1 (23 October 1939), p. 755.

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.

A prayer for the success of the London Conference of 1939 which ultimately resulted in the publication of the 1939 White Paper.

The words of the prayer for Armistice Day 1938, “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin, in English and Yiddish.

An untitled prayer on behalf of German Jewry under Nazi oppression disseminated in Bombay, likely after Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938).

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.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 March 1935.

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 March 1935.