A Prayer of Re-dedication, in the shadow of the Holocaust (CCAR 1951)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

Shared on:

16 March 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Congregation & Community, 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan), 🇺🇸 Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (28-29 April), 🌐 Holocaust Survivor Day (4 June)

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, dedications and consecrations, English vernacular prayer, post-Holocaust liturgical adaptations, Post–World War II economic expansion

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Thou Eternal One who hast guided us so long upon the way, we thank Thee for all the blessings with which Thou hast blessed us. We pray that we may be worthy of the faith of our fathers and find in it the strength and comfort which helped them meet the trials and hardships of their lives.
	They knew the darkness of oppression and the fear of the unknown but in Thy light they saw light and built a highway in the wilderness. As they built wisely and well for the needs of their time, may we build for the needs of ours so that our children will praise all the work of our hands.
	May we never forget that if we build without Thee, we build on shifting sand. Thou who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, make firm our hearts that in the midst of hate and despair we may declare the glory of Thy ways and restore faith in Thy promise of just and brotherly humanity on a good earth. Amen.

“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. Unfortunately, as with so many of the prayers published as a result of CCAR committees from this period and earlier, we cannot yet attribute this prayer to any known author. (If you know, please leave a comment or contact us.)

Source(s)

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.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada.

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City–Shtetl byIssachar Ber Ryback, in the collection of the National Museum of Ukraine

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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)

A Prayer of Re-dedication, in the shadow of the Holocaust (CCAR 1951)

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