Closing Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributor(s):

John Paul Williams, Eugene Kohn, Mordecai Kaplan and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Shared on:

16 October 2021 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

United Nations, United Nations Day (October 24th)

Tags:

English vernacular prayer, civic prayers, American Jewry of the United States, anti-war, world government, 20th century C.E., ecumenical prayers, United States, 58th century A.M.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	God of our nation and of all nations, people of different races and different faiths the world over implore you in many tongues for the boon of peace. By whatever name men call you, and by whatever creed you are to them, you are the Power that has implanted in their hearts the yearning for justice, for love, and for peace.
	We turn to you, ashamed of the sins that have alienated us from you and have corrupted the world with injustice, oppression, and war. We repent of the idolatrous worship we have at times accorded to our own national being. We repent of the blasphemy of having invoked you name to sanctify acts of ungodly greed and exploitation. Save us from ourselves. Fill our minds with wisdom and our hearts with love, that we may learn to reconcile our wants with those of our neighbors. Teach us to share without strife the blessings you bestow upon us.
	Give us the courage to defend the freedom of the weak against the strong who would enslave them. Grant us the patience to curb our resentments and to submit to arbitration the grievances we bear against our neighbors. Endow us with insight into the needs of other nations and peoples, and inspire us with the love to minister to those needs. Save us from bondage to those fears and passions that involve, in destructive and death-dealing pursuits, the powers which you would have us consecrate to your service and that of our fellow men.
	Help us to build a world government that will command the loyalty of men and women everywhere by its beneficent influence on their lives. Speed the day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,^[1] Cf. Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3. when men shall no longer train for war, when the burden of armaments shall be lifted from the shoulders of men, and the world shall be full of that knowledge of you^[2] Cf. Habakkuk 2:14. which will teach us how to live in harmony and love.
	AMEN.

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. It is unclear from this publication whether the prayer was written by Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, or Eugene Kohn separately or together in collaboration. I have replaced all archaisms in referencing the divine (Thee, Thy, Thou dost, etc.). –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Cf. Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3.
2	Cf. Habakkuk 2:14.

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Closing Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

John Paul Williams

Dr. John Paul Williams (1900-1973) was chairman of the department of religion at Mount Holyoke College. In 1946, he served as president of the National Association of Biblical Instructors (now known as the American Academy of Religion). He wrote What Americans Believe and How They Worship (1952, revised 1962) containing the chapter "Judaism -- the Mother Institution." Together with Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn he co-authored the anthology of civic prayers, Faith in America (1951).

Eugene Kohn

Eugene Kohn (January 26, 1887 - April 1, 1977) was an American Reconstructionist rabbi, writer and editor. Born in Newark, New Jersey he attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and in 1912 received ordination. It was here that he met Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who taught him homiletics. Between 1912 and 1939 he served as a congregational rabbi in Conservative synagogues in the U.S. states of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin and Ohio. He also served as the president of the Rabbinical Assembly 1936-1937. He played a central role in the Reconstructionist movement. He edited its journal The Reconstructionist and, alongside Kaplan and Ira Eisenstein, edited The New Haggadah (1941), The Sabbath Prayer Book (1945) and The Reconstructionist Prayer Book (1948). Alongside Jack Cohen, Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg he was one of Kaplan's main disciples.

Mordecai Kaplan

Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983), was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/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.)

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Works of related interest:

Opening Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Arbor Day, Wild Animal Park, Girl Scout Plants Tree Assisted by Leader (circa 1979-1986)

Closing Prayer for Arbor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Flag Lowering (Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York, I-42) in the collection of the American Jewish Historical Society

Closing Ceremony for Flag Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Closing Prayer for Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

life mask of George Washington (The Frick Collection)

Closing Prayer for Washington’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Labor day float from the early 1930s with Margaret Ray Duyungan wife of president Virgil Duyungan

Closing Prayer for Labor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

War Can Be Abolished, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "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