Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Mordecai Levy on 25 May 1972

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Mordecai Levy and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Shared on:

12 May 2024 under the Public Domain (17 U.S. Code §105 - Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works)

Categories:

Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, United States of America

Tags:

תחינות teḥinot, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, 92nd Congress, 20th century C.E.

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Mordecai Levy, Tri-City Jewish Center, Rock Island, Illinois
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 25 May 1972

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Lord of the universe, ruler of mankind, it hath been told Thee, O man, what is good and what the Lord doth require of Thee, but to love with strength and to do justly with human kind.
	We seek daily to fill our lungs with the correct words, our minds with responsible ideas, and our limbs with the power to act righteously. These characteristics are divine in quality. Let them not repose in the heavenly spheres where Thou alone act supreme and exalted. Let them guide our lives: in government, and in the street where human beings congregate.
	May our leaders, yea— may all peoples find the means to humanize Your ideal concepts, to the end that in the arena of social domesticity, in the marketplace of the human situation, we shall transform the erring part of human frailty into a plan, where man shall live in peace, extending love and friendship without favor.
	Shalom, peace is not a static quality in which people rest complacent, but a dynamic urge to fulfill our human destiny.
	O Lord, bless the work of our hands as we dream to labor, and labor to dream for such a world.^[1] Adapted from Psalms 90:17 Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the second session of the 92nd US Congress in the Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 118, part 15 (25 May 1972), page 18927.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 118, part 15 (25 May 1972), p. 18927

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Adapted from Psalms 90:17

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Mordecai Levy on 25 May 1972” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/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.)

Mordecai Levy

Rabbi Mordecai Levy (1928-2011), from Malden, Massachusetts, was a Conservative movement rabbi and Jewish educator in the United States. Ordained at JTS, Rabbi Levy held several post-graduate degrees, including a doctorate from Dropsie University in Philadelphia. An Air Force veteran of the Korean War, Rabbi Levy volunteered at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa and served as a chaplain at the hospital. He also had served as a prison chaplain for many years. He served at pulpits in and around Tampa, Florida: Temple Ohev Shalom, Temple Emanuel, Congregation Aliya in Clearwater.

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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Works of related interest:

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Alfred Cohen on 27 January 1972

Flag of the United States House of Representatives

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Albert A. Goldman on 8 February 1972

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Kenneth Segel on 19 April 1972

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Mordecai L. Brill on 28 May 1957

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Alvin K. Berkun on 8 May 1991

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Dr. Joachim Prinz on 6 May 1965

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Saul Israel Wisemon on 28 May 1970

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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