Prayer for Armed Forces in Combat, by Rabbi Dr. Philip S. Bernstein (1951)

Contributor(s):

Anonymous (translation), Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Philip S. Bernstein

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8 June 2022 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cold War (1947–1953), English vernacular prayer, United States in the Korean War

Translation (Hebrew)	Source (English)
עַל מָה עָלֵינוּ לְהִתְפַּלֵּל, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם? עַל עֹוז וְתַעֲצוּמוֹת? עַל נִצָּחוֹן? עַל שָׁלוֹם הַבָּא בִּמְהֵרָה? אָכֵן!	For what shall we pray, O Lord? For strength, for victory, for a swift peace? Certainly!
אַךְ מִתְפַּלְּלִים אָנוּ גַּם לִהְיוֹת רְאוּיִם לֶאֱמוּנַת יַקִּירֵינוּ.	But we pray also to be worthy of the faith of our loved ones.
נְבַקֵּשׁ עֶזְרָתְךָ לְבַל תֵּחָלֵד נַפְשֵׁנוּ בַּמְּלָאכָה הַקָּשָׁה אֲשֶׁר עָלֵינוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת.	We seek help that our souls shall not be corroded by the grim work that we must do.
וּמֵעַל לַכֹּל, הָאֵר עֵינֵינוּ לִרְאוֹת כִּי לְמַעַנְךָ הֵם קָרְבְּנוֹתֵינוּ.	Above all, give us light to see that our sacrifices are made for Thee.
אָמֵן.	Amen.

This prayer by Rabbi Dr. Philip S. Bernstein, then President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, was included in the anthology of prayer, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), p. 11. On 13 August 2026, a Hebrew translation for was submitted by an anonymous translator.

Source(s)

Anonymous (translation)

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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.)

Philip S. Bernstein

Philip Sidney Bernstein (June 29, 1901 – December 3, 1985) was a Reform rabbi who served as the advisor to the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war he helped find homes for over 200,000 displaced Jews. Born in Rochester, New York he went on to study at Syracuse University and the Jewish Institute of Religion. At the age of 25, in 1926, Bernstein returned to Rochester to serve as assistant rabbi of Temple B'rith Kodesh. Within the year he was made rabbi and continued there until the late 1960s. As rabbi, Bernstein began fighting antisemitism; exemplified by his correspondence with his acquaintance Cardinal Edward Mooney. Bernstein requested the Cardinal join him in combating Father Charles Coughlin and his antisemitic National Union for Social Justice. During World War II Bernstein, acted as the official advisor on Jewish affairs to United States Army commanders in Europe, relating the stories of the Holocaust to the United States beginning in 1943. After the war, Bernstein assisted in resettling over 200,000 displaced European Jews. At the petition of Orthodox Jews living in displaced persons' camps, he adopted their proposition that copies of the Talmud should be printed to help support Jewish education in the refugee camps. In the 1950s and 60s, Bernstein served as the president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

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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)

Prayer for Armed Forces in Combat, by Rabbi Dr. Philip S. Bernstein (1951)

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