Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman, D.D., Temple Beth Israel, Hartford, Connecticut
Date of Prayer: 29 January 1958
Sponsor: Rep. Edwin May (R-CT)
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O God, author of all that is,
who transcendeth space and time—
and yet art nigh unto all that call upon Thee sincerely,
humbly we bespeak Thy blessing
upon these representatives of the people of this Republic.
Sanctify their purposes as they serve their people and Thee
and hallow their lives as they give of themselves in dedication.
Reverently, O God,
we call unto Thee for Thy blessing
to rest upon the Government of this Republic
and upon all who govern by the consent of this people.
Strengthen and sustain their will to righteousness.
Give unto all of us, O God,
the inspiration to goodness,
the courage of righteousness,
the daring of soaring hopefulness,
the warmth of profound conviction,
the humility of continuing faithfulness.
Above all, O God,
give us the assurance—
at once comforting and challenging—
that we are ever in Thy presence,
that Thine eye is ever upon us
and that Thine arm continues to guide us.
O Father,
as we direct unto Thee “the fruit of our lips”
and the meditations of our hearts,
be pleased to “incline Thine ear unto us,
to hear our words,
and wondrously to show Thy steadfast love”
unto all Thy children. Amen.
This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the first month of the second session of the 85th US Congress in the House of Representatives. The source images of the prayer were copied by Howard Mortman and shared via his @CongressRabbi Twitter account. All credit to Howard Mortman for his research in digging up this prayer. Unfortunately, neither the source images nor his tweets provide an exact citation reference to the volume, issue, and page number of the Congressional Record in which the prayer was published. If you know, leave a comment, or contact us.
Source(s)
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain (Abraham J. Feldman, 29 January 1958) – a
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain (Abraham J. Feldman, 29 January 1958) – b
“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman on 29 January 1958” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.
Abraham J. Feldman
Abraham Jehiel Feldman (June 28, 1893 – July 21, 1977), born in Kyiv, Ukraine, was a prominent American rabbi in the Reform movement. Feldman immigrated to America in 1906 and settled in the Lower East Side in New York City, New York. While there, he attended the Baron de Hirsch School of the Educational Alliance. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in 1917. He received a B.H.L. from Hebrew Union College, and in 1918 he was ordained a rabbi from there. Following his ordination, he served as a fellowship assistant at the Free Synagogue of Flushing in Flushing, Queens, a branch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, from 1918 to 1919. He then ministered at Congregation Children of Israel in Athens, Georgia, from 1919 to 1920, followed by the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1920 to 1925. While he went to the latter congregation as an assistant rabbi under Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf, Krauskopf's illness in 1920 led him to take on most of the rabbinic duties. He was elected rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, Connecticut, in 1925, and he served as rabbi there until his retirement in 1968. Feldman was an associate editor of the English-Yiddish Encyclopedic Dictionary from 1910 to 1911 and editor an English translation of Zvi Hirsch Masliansky's Sermons in 1926. He also published twelve volumes of his own sermons. He wrote Judaism and Unitarianism (1930), The Faith of a Liberal Jew (1931), The American Jew (1937), A Companion to the Bible (1939), The Rabbi and His Early Ministry (1941), Why I am a Zionist (1945), and American Reform Rabbi (1965). He was also the author of a tract called Contributions of Judaism to Modern Society, which was published by the Tract Commission of Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) in the 29th issue of the Popular Studies in Judaism. He was a contributor to the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia as well as historian and editor of the Bulletin of the Alumni Association of Hebrew Union College. He delivered the alumni lectures at Hebrew Union College on the subject of the rabbi and their early ministry in 1940, and in 1941 he was appointed chairman of the New England district of the National Town Hall Meeting Committee of the UAHC. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College, president of the Alumni Association of Hebrew Union College, a publications committee member of the Jewish Publication Society, a National Committee member of the Jewish Book Council, an administrative board member of the School of Religious Education of Hebrew Union College, and a member of the UAHC in New York City. As a member of UAHC's Committee on Ceremonies, he designed atarah a number of Reform rabbis used instead of a tallit, and he participated on the committee that revised the Union Prayer Book in 1940. He received an honorary D.D. from Hebrew Union College in 1944. He was also president of the Jewish Ministers of Philadelphia, the Federation of Jewish School Teachers of Pennsylvania, the Jewish Teachers' Association of New England Liberal Schools, and the West Hartford Public Library. During the New Deal, Feldman was educational director of the National Recovery Administration in Connecticut and State Chairman of the National Recovery Administration Adjustment Board. He founded the Connecticut Jewish Ledger with Samuel Neusner and served as its editor until 1977. He was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1947 to 1949 and the Synagogue Council of America from 1955 to 1957. Seeing himself as a Jewish ambassador to the non-Jewish community, Feldman delivered an annual Thanksgiving message to the Hartford Rotary Club for 37 years, maintained extensive contact with the Christian clergy in the Hartford area, and taught a course on Judaism at the Hartford Theological Seminary every year. He was president of the Hartford Council for Adult Education, chaplain of the U.S. Veterans Hospital in Newington, a director of the Jewish Federation, the United Jewish Social Service Agency, and Mount Sinai Hospital, a member of the United War Community Fund of Connecticut, an advisory board member of the Salvation Army of Hartford, and a commissioner of the Hartford Fellowship Commission. In 1955, Feldman was designated Citizen of the Year in Hartford and received the Connecticut Valley Council B'nai B'rith Americanism and Civic Award. He received a George Washington Honor Medal for the Freedoms Foundation in 1956, an Achievement Award in Freedom from Phi Epsilon Pi in 1959, the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts in 1961, and the Charter Oak Leadership Medal from the Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce in 1964. In 1962, he was the first appointed Distinguished Alumni Professor of Hebrew Union College and became honorary rabbi of Temple Sinai in Newington (which he helped found). He also received an honorary S.T.D. degree from Trinity College, an honorary LL.D. degree from Hillyer College, and an honorary D.Hum. from Hartt College of Music.
the Congressional Record of the United States of America
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Printing Office and issued when Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks. At the end of a session of Congress, the daily editions are compiled in bound volumes constituting the permanent edition. Statutory authorization for the Congressional Record is found in Chapter 9 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (wikipedia)
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