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Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl on 29 November 2012

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, senior rabbi of Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto, Canada
Date of Prayer: 11/29/2012


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Contribute a translationSource (English)

God of us all,
we assemble before You in humility,
recalling both triumph and defeat,
summer drought,
autumn hurricane,
and the cooperative resilience of our Nation.
In this season after elections and before the new Congress,
we ask that You give these Senators and our government
the wisdom to avoid the exclusions of either/or
and to embrace the blessings of both/and.

Rather than fear falling off a cliff,
help our leaders to learn to chimney.
In climbing, chimneying requires
pushing off one side of a mountain cleft
and then the other to advance higher.
The resistance of each face of the rock
contributes to the ascent.

Help these leaders
to appreciate individual initiative
and care for the distressed,
to value competition
and find a path for cooperation,
to be mindful of human liberty
and be grateful for mutual help,
to recognize the occasional need for force
and to forcefully pursue peace.
Enable them
to chimney up the cleft
of our differences,
to reclaim fiscal integrity
and maintain social concern,
to be exemplars of responsibility
and reasonableness,
so that all Americans may respect
and rejoice
in their leadership
of this great country.
אָמֵן׃
Amen.

Source(s)

112th Congress, 2nd Session. Congressional Record, Issue: Vol. 158, No. 151 — Daily Edition (November 29, 2012)

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