Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Dr. Karl Applbaum on 30 April 1952

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Karl Applbaum and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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25 June 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

🇮🇱 Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

82nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cold War (1947–1953), English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Dr. Karl Applbaum, rabbi, Bayside Jewish Center, Bayside, N.Y.
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 30 April 1952

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Almighty God: Send Thy blessings upon these men and women assembled here to carry out the trust and responsibilities placed upon them by the people of these United States. We pray Thee to be present at all their deliberations.
	Grant them clear vision, true insights, and pure hearts as they face the perplexities in this critical hour in our history when sinister forces are threatening to undermine the principles upon which this land was established. Strengthen them in their resolves to uproot tyranny and eradicate aggression; to channel international conduct along the conduits of justice and peace.
	There are many nations which are thankful to our beloved country for the aid which we have given them in their struggle for freedom. Among them is the nation of Israel whose fourth anniversary is being celebrated today by all freedom-loving peoples of the world. Never will the children of Israel forget that our country was the first to recognize its independence and its right to exist as a free nation.
	May it be Thy will, O Lord, that everlasting peace and brotherhood be the inheritance of all Thy children. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fourth month of the second session of the 82nd US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 98 part 4 (30 April 1952), p. 4574.

Source(s)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Karl Applbaum (House of Representatives, 30 April 1952), p. 4574

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.)

Karl Applbaum

Rabbi Dr. Karl Applbaum (1910-1974), born in Hungary, was a Conservative movement rabbi in the United States. He was the founder and associate rabbi of the Avenue M Jewish Center (Brooklyn, New York). In 1945, was on the faculty of Mesifta Talmudical Seminary, Hebrew Parochial High School in Brooklyn, New York, teaching Social Science. In 1952, he became rabbi of the newly established Bayside Jewish Center (Queens, New York). He served as a chaplain in the Army until his retirement from the active reserve as a full colonel in 1970. He wrote Laws Governing the Reading of the Torah, Prophets, and Megillos Esther in the Synagogue, published in the Tiqun La-Qor'im he-Ḥadash (Rabbi Asher Scharfstein, 1950).

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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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 of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Dr. Karl Applbaum on 30 April 1952

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