Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Max A. Shapiro on 15 April 1985

Contributor(s): Max A. Shapiro, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Shared on: 14 April 2024 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags: 99th Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Max A. Shapiro, Temple Israel Synagogue, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sponsor: Sen. Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN)
Date of Prayer: 15 April 1985

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	It is written, “And the Lord said, ‘I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing’.” (Genesis 12:2)
	Heavenly Father, we thank You that we have been so richly blessed— blessed with a land of plenty, blessed with a heritage of freedom and justice, blessed with a people creative and purposeful.
	We thank You that our name has been made great— that ours is a haven that many seek, a hope to which many aspire, that ours is a strength for which others wish.
	And we pray that this Nation will always be a blessing— a home for the homeless, a champion for righteousness, a defender of liberty— and that somehow, because of us, there will emerge a world untroubled by war, unvexed by fear, untrammeled by hunger, and unfettered by cruelty; a world where justice and freedom, compassion and opportunity, will always prevail.
	Make it so, Lord. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fourth month of the first session of the 99th US Congress in the Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 131, part 6 (15 April 1985), page 7804.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 131, part 6 (15 April 1985), p. 7804

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“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Max A. Shapiro on 15 April 1985” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Max A. Shapiro

Rabbi Max A. Shapiro (1917-2009) born in Massachusetts, was a Reform movement rabbi in the United States. After graduating from Clark University, he earned a masters degree in education from Boston Teacher’s College. He served as a chaplain at Lawson General Hospital, in Atlanta, Georgia., during World War II, an experience that motivated him to enter the rabbinate. From 1944-1946, Shapiro served in the Middle East, and contributed to the writing of a history of the U.S. Air Force. In 1950, Shapiro was admitted to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Following his ordination, in 1955, he took the post of assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in Minneapolis, and in 1963, its senior rabbi. In Minnesota, he became the first adjunct professor of Jewish Studies at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton. Rabbi Shapiro was also a visiting professor for more than 20 years at Hamline University’s Department of Religion and Philosophy. He was awarded a doctorate in education from University of Cincinnati in 1960. In the larger Minneapolis, Rabbi Shapiro co-founded the Center for Jewish-Christian Learning at the University of St. Thomas. He also served as the center’s director until his retirement in 1996.

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)

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.)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "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

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