Benediction by Rabbi Julie Schonfeld at the Democratic National Convention (2016)

Contributor(s): Julie Schonfeld

Shared on: 2 October 2016 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Elections & Voting

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Benediction, Democratic National Convention 2016, Democratic National Conventions, English vernacular prayer, תחינות teḥinot, United States, United States General Election 2016

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	God of Goodness, you have given a beautiful earth to all humankind and a beautiful country to the American people. You have given us our minds to discern your truth and the means to preserve and protect your gifts.
	God of Compassion, show us the way to improve the lives of our fellow Americans. Remind us that our greatest achievements begin by helping each of us to build a good life, to have the opportunity to work and to contribute, to care for ourselves and our families, to raise up our children with proper health care and a good education, and to age with wisdom and dignity.
	God of Healing, comfort us in the difficult days that have marked this turbulent summer in our country and around the world. Guide our hands to reach out towards one another certain in the truth that what unites us is greater than anything that divides us. Let us keep the faith that the healing of our wounds will make us stronger than ever.
	God of Strength, safeguard this great nation and our allies. Watch over the brave who protect us here and abroad. Guide our leaders in wisdom and experience to protect our nation and our values against those who would threaten us. Bring us closer together to understand our challenges and to overcome them.
	God Who is Great, Mighty, and Awesome, in a season so filled with chatter of who is great and what is great and what shall be great, let us remember Scripture’s clear, simple explanation of greatness: God is the great, the mighty and the awesome for God defends the cause of the widow and the orphan, and loves the stranger residing among you. This is God’s greatness and this is the greatness the American people must strive to imitate.
	God of History, help us to understand that this is the most important election of our lives. Help us to recognize that the gift — the miracle of U.S. Democracy, our freedom, our community and everything we hold dear — rests in the hands of her people at this moment. We are a beautiful country of people as diverse as your creation. We are each unique, each a part of a group or groups we identify with proudly, and each a person of infinite value created in your divine image.
	Help us to choose wisely, to walk in your ways which are paths of pleasantness and peace, and let us say Amen.

The full text of Rabbi Julie Schonfeld’s benediction offered at the end of the first day of the Democratic National Convention, July 25th, 2016. Transcribed by Aharon Varady.

Source

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Benediction by Rabbi Julie Schonfeld at the Democratic National Convention (2016)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Julie Schonfeld

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld is the Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the international membership association of Conservative/Masorti rabbis. Rabbi Schonfeld started her career as a congregational rabbi at the historic Society for the Advancement of Judaism on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Prior to being named Executive Vice President, she was Director of Rabbinic Development at the RA, spearheading projects in areas such as public policy, conversion, continuing rabbinic education, professional conduct, mentorship and women’s’ advancement. Rabbi Schonfeld serves on President Obama’s White House Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Newsweek named her one of the 50 most influential Rabbis in America in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She was named by Jewish Women International as a “Woman to Watch” in 2011 and has also been named in the Forward 50. Rabbi Schonfeld is often called upon to represent the Jewish community in national and international settings and is known for her incisive application of Jewish thinking to world events.

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Works of related interest:

Benediction by Rabbi Lauren Berkun at the Democratic National Convention (2020)

Benediction at DNC 2012 by Rabbi David Wolpe (C-SPAN screen capture)

Benediction by Rabbi David Wolpe at the Democratic National Convention (2012)

invocation at the DNC 1996 by Rabbi Moshe Faskowitz (C-Span screen capture)

Benediction by Rabbi Moshe Faskowitz at the Democratic National Convention (1996)

benediction at the DNC 1988 by Rabbi Morris Shmidman (C-SPAN screen capture)

Benediction by Rabbi Morris Shmidman at the Democratic National Convention (1988)

Invocation at DNC 2008 by David Saperstein (C-SPAN screen capture)

Invocation by Rabbi David Saperstein at the Democratic National Convention (2008)

Invocation at the DNC 2004 by Rabbi Ronne Friedman (C-SPAN screen capture)

Invocation by Rabbi Ronne Friedman at the Democratic National Convention (2004)

Invocation by Rabbi Irving Greenberg at the Democratic National Convention (2000)

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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