Invocation by Rabbi Gerson Baruch Levi at the Republican National Convention (10 June 1916)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Gerson B. Levi

Shared on:

7 December 2025 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Elections & Voting

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., economic distress, English vernacular prayer, Republican National Convention 1916, Republican National Conventions

On 19 June, the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention in 1916, the invocation was offered by Rabbi Gerson B. Levi of Temple Israel (Chicago) at the Chicago Coliseum in Chicago, Illinois, as recorded in The Official Report of the Proceedings of the Republican National Convention 1916, page 101.

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	Our Heavenly Father, most fervently do we invoke Thy blessing for Thy children here gathered in convention. May the consciousness of Thy near presence inform every thought, inspire every word of counsel, and dignify every act.
	But for more than the consciousness of Thy presence with us do we Pray.
	We ask for the consciousness that we are with Thee, so that we make ourselves willing instruments for the fulfillment of Thy plans for the realization of Thy kingdom upon earth and in the hearts and lives of men.
	Inspired by this deep sense of responsibility may we so plan and act, so take counsel and perform that through us happiness be increased for all, to youth be assured opportunity, to age comfort, to the weak new hope and to the strong a deeper sense of the stewardship implied in power.
	Inspired by this we shall labor to make this nation a bulwark of freedom, a haven of refuge to the oppressed, a beacon light to peoples struggling on to the light of liberty and self-government, a friend and steady advocate of peace.
	Be with the delegates when after convention they shall return to their home and community circles there to carry the messages of a deep and sacred patriotism.
	Bless all of us with the blessing of old: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause the light of his countenance to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance unto you and grant you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26) in heart and home, in State and Nation. Amen.

Many thanks to Howard Mortman for locating and informing us of this prayer.

Source(s)

Prayer at the Republican National Convention by Rabbi Gerson B. Levi (10 June 1916)

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.)

Gerson B. Levi

Rabbi Gerson B. Levi (1878-1939), born in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland was a Reform movement rabbi in the United States. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his doctorate there in 1910. Although ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Levi became a proponent of Reform Judaism and was mentored by Emil G. Hirsch. Spending the bulk of his career in Chicago after a short stint in Helena, Arkansas, Levi was active in many Reform organizations and was the editor of The Reform Advocate. Among other works, he was the author of Gnomic Literature in Bible and Apocrypha (1917) and was involved in Chicago communal affairs.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=64882

Associated Image:

The Coliseum During a Republican National Convention, photograph in The National Geographic, vol 35, no. 1 (January 1919), page 35.

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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)

Invocation by Rabbi Gerson Baruch Levi at the Republican National Convention (10 June 1916)

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