This prayer was prepared for use in a special service on the Sabbath before Thanksgiving Day, 1905, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Jews in the United States. It was published in The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the Jews in the United States, 1655-1905 (New York Co-operative Society: 1906), pp. 253-256. (The prayer also appears in the 14th volume of Proceedings of the American Jewish Historical Society (1906).) It was prepared by a committee consisting of a seven-starred constellation of prominent Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox rabbis: Rabbi Dr. Henry Pereira Mendes (chair), Rabbi Dr. Maurice H. Harris, Rabbi Dr. Philip Klein, Rabbi Dr. Kaufmann Kohler, Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schechter, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Schulman, and Rabbi Dr. Joseph Silverman.

Source(s)

“Prayer for a Thanksgiving Day Shabbat Service in Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Jewish Settlement in the United States (1905)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Maurice Henry Harris

Rabbi Dr. Maurice Henry Harris (1859-1930) was a prominent Reform movement rabbi and writer in the United States. At the time of his death, he was president of the Association of Reform Rabbis of New York City. He wrote, People of the Book. A Bible history for school and home (1893), Jewish history and literature : a course of lessons from the rise of the Kabbala to the expulsion of the Jews by Spain (1899), History of the mediaeval Jews, from the Moslem conquest of Spain to the discovery of America (1924), A thousand years of Jewish history, from the days of Alexander the Great to the Moslem conquest of Spain (1927), Modern Jewish history from the Renaissance to the close of the World War (1928), and posthumously, Hebraic literature : translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala (1946). We know very little else about Rabbi Harris's life and career. If you can add a detail, please contact us.

Philip Klein

Rabbi Dr. Hillel haKohen (Philip) Klein (1849 – 1926), born in Baracska, Hungary, was a prominent Orthodox rabbi in Prussia, the Russian Empire, and the United States. He began studying at the Pressburg Yeshiva when he was twelve after which, when he was 16, he attended Azriel Hildesheimer's Yeshiva in Halberstadt. He was appointed dean of a department in the Yeshiva shortly afterwards and spent two years there. He then went to Vienna, and in 1868 he entered the gymnasium there whereafter he studied at the University of Vienna. With the encouragement of Hildesheimer (who by then became Chief Rabbi of Berlin), he moved to Berlin, Germany and enrolled in the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary and the University of Berlin. He received his rabbinical ordination in 1871 and a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1873. He spent some time as an instructor at the University of Berlin, and then accepted a position as tutor for the son of Israel Brodsky in Kyiv, Russia. His rabbinical diploma was conferred by Rabbi Benjamin Hirsch Auerbach of Halberstadt. From 1874 to 1880, he lived in Kyiv. He then served as Rabbi of Libau, Courland from 1880 to 1890. In 1890, he immigrated to America and lived in New York City. There, he was appointed rabbi of Congregation Ohab Zedek, an important Hungarian congregation in the Lower East Side. He was a founder of the war relief movement in the United States when World War Ⅰ began in 1914. He was a leader of Agudath Israel and president of Agudath Israel of America, although he remained partially connected to Mizrachi Zionism. He was also honorary president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada and president of Kollel Shomrei HaChomos.

Kaufmann Kohler

Kaufmann Kohler (May 10, 1843 – January 28, 1926) was a German-born Jewish American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform movement rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles of The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

Henry Pereira Mendes

Rabbi Dr. Henry (Ḥaim) Pereira Mendes (Hebrew: חיים פריירה מנדס), (13 April 1852 – 21 October 1937), born in Birmingham, England, was an author and prominent communal leader in the Western Sepharadi world. He was educated at Northwick College (rabbinics), at University College (London). In 1874, he became Minister of the newly formed Sephardic congregation in Manchester, England. In 1877, he was called to the Congregation Shearith Israel of New York where he served until 1920, retaining the title of Rabbi Emeritus. In addition, he studied and graduated from the medical school of New York University, taking the degree of M.D. (1884). The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (1904). In addition, to synagogue duties, Rev. Mendes served as professor of homiletics at Yeshiva Isaac Elchanan from 1917 to 1920. After retiring in 1920, he traveled for four years through Europe and South America. During that time, he reconnected with his first congregation in Manchester and spent some time in St. Thomas, reviving the S&P community there and leading services. He participated in the founding of a number of significant organizations. In 1881, he was one of the founders of the New York Board of Ministers and acted as its secretary from its foundation up to 1901 when he became president. In 1886, Rev. Mendes joined Sabato Morais in helping to establish the Jewish Theological Seminary, of which he became secretary of the advisory board and professor of history. On the death of Dr. Morais, he became acting president of the faculty until the appointment of Solomon Schechter in 1902. In 1884, the centennial of the birth of Sir Moses Montefiore, Rev. Mendes moved his congregation to convene the leading Jews of New York to mark the event by some practical work. The outcome was the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids, established in the same year—and which later became Montefiore Medical Center. In 1896, he was made vice-president of the Guild for Crippled Children, and in 1901 established the Jewish branch of that guild. He promoted the formation of the Union of Orthodox Congregations of the United States and Canada (1897) and was subsequently elected its president. He was also one of the founders of the Young Women's Hebrew Association of New York (1902).

Solomon Schechter

Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schechter (שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר) (1847 – 1915), born in Focşani, Moldavia (now Romania), British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and architect of American Conservative Judaism.

Samuel Schulman

Rabbi Dr. Samuel Schulman (1864 – 1955), born in the Russian Empire, was a prominent Reform movement rabbi in the United States. He came to the United States with his family in 1868, and attended the New York City public schools. He graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1885 and then went abroad where he studied at the University of Berlin and the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums from 1885 to 1889. At the latter school, he completed the courses he needed to be ordained as a rabbi. Returning to the United States, Schulman was rabbi in Helena, Montana, from 1890 to 1893 (there instrumental in the building of Montana's first synagogue, Temple Emanu-El), and at Kansas City, Missouri, from 1893 to 1899. He then returned to New York City 1899 where he joined Rabbi Kaufman Kohler at Temple Beth-El, succeeding him in 1903. When Temple Beth-El was absorbed by Temple Emanu-El in 1927, he became rabbi of the new congregation, becoming rabbi emeritus in 1934. On 11 June 1924, he offered the invocation at the opening of the second day of the 1924 Republican National Convention. He spoke with appreciation for "the Republican Party's precious heritage of the championship of human rights" and he called for "every form of prejudice and misunderstanding" to be "driven forever out of our land." Speaking of Calvin Coolidge, he praised "the integrity, the wisdom, the fearlessness of our beloved President."

Joseph Silverman

Rabbi Joseph Silverman (1860 – 1930), born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was a prominent Reform movement rabbi and author in the United States. He attended the University of Cincinnati and received a Doctor of Divinity from the Hebrew Union College in 1887, from which he received his rabbinic ordination three years earlier. He was Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, Texas, September 1884 to June 1885; rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel, Galveston, Texas July, 1885 to February 20, 1888. While in Texas he was a circuit preacher to the Jewish communities in the vicinity of Dallas and Galveston, and aided in organizing many Sabbath schools and congregations. At the beginning of 1888, Silverman received an offer from Temple Emanu-El in New York City to serve as a rabbi of the leading Reform congregation in America. Silverman started at Temple Emanu-El on March 1, 1888, succeeding rabbi Gustav Gottheil. He was the first American born rabbi to serve in New York City. During the years of his career in New York, 1888-1922 he was also president (1900–1903) of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Eastern Council 1918- and was founder and president of the Emanu-El Brotherhood. He helped organize the Religious Congress of the World's Fair in Chicago, 1893, where his address on this occasion was titled, "The Popular Errors About the Jews." Silverman published many articles and books, including A Catechism on Judaism (1886) and The Renaissance of Judaism (1918). He was consulting editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia (Funk & Wagnalls). An article from The New York Times on April 21, 1912, quoted Silverman at a memorial service for victims of the RMS Titanic disaster as saying "Not God was responsible for this great disaster but the imperfection of human knowledge and judgment."

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.)

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Medal commemorating the 250th Anniversary of Jewish Settlement in the United States (Isidore Konti, 1905)

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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