Contributor(s): Shared on: 14 January 2024 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Tags:
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Edward B. M. Browne, Mount Morris Park Synagogue “Ateress-Zvee,” New York City, New York
Date of Prayer: 13 December 1917
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Father, who art in Heaven,
hallowed is Thy name.
Thy kingdom came with the dawn of creation,
and being established upon principles eternal and universal,
its laws enforce themselves alike in all climes and in all ages. | |
Therefore Thy will must be done
amongst the celestials in Heaven
even as it is done
amongst Thy mortal children on earth. | |
Thou hast endowed nature
with productive energies, subservient to man’s will,
whereby Thou givest us this day our daily bread. | |
By imparting to us Thy divine spirit,
Thou hast enabled us
to enact just laws
which guard human society,
so that human passions may lead us
not into temptation
but divine grace deliver us from all evil. | |
For the purpose of enacting
just laws for our great Nation,
there are here assembled its representative sons,
and I pray that as Thou wast present
with Moses on the peak of Moab,
so here in this modern Sinai
Thou canst send Thy shekhinah
upon every one of the Representatives present,
so that while they represent the will of the people
they will represent the will of Thee,
who art our Father and our Lord. | |
And we pray, oh God, our special blessing
upon the President of the United States,
our olive-branch President,
who is waging an olive-branch war
in order to bring about an olive-branch, genuine peace
amongst all the nations of the earth. | |
Open Thy religious magnanimity
to forgive those who trespass against us
even as Thou forgivest our trespasses
against Thee.
And thus give us the power and the will
to bring mankind to Thy feet
as children of God
and to democratize every human being
in justice
and in equality. | |
We thank Thee, oh Lord,
that You have selected our Nation
as the chosen people of these days
to bring about the peace
which the bewildered world now wants. | |
But let us not be vainglorious
at the high position assigned us,
bearing in mind that whatsoever we are
in greatness,
in influence,
in power,
we are so only through Thee.
For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen. |
This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the first year of the 65th US Congress, after the United States had officially entered World War Ⅰ. The prayer, modeled after the Lord’s Prayer, is at once ecumenical, civic, and perhaps also sensational — as a Jewish prayer of a rabbi before a largely white Christian audience in the US House of Representatives. It is also the same prayer he offered before Congress in 1871. 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 (Edward B.M. Browne, 13 December 1917) “Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Edward B.M. Browne on 13 December 1917” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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.)  Rabbi Dr. Edward Benjamin Morris Browne (1845-1929) was born in Hungary and received his early Hebrew and rabbinical training in Europe. He emigrated to the United States in the 1860s. He obtained a medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and taught at the Medical College of Evansville. He also held several rabbinical posts in the Midwest and South - Milwaukee, Evansville, Peoria, Montgomery (Alabama) and Atlanta. During this time, he was associated with Rabbi Isaac M. Wise until they had a disagreement and subsequent falling out in 1878. During the 1870s, Browne began to build a national reputation as an orator and lectured widely on Jewish topics, mainly to non-Jewish audiences. He began his involvement with Republican Party politics, both nationally and in New York, where he moved in the 1880s. In 1885, he was a pallbearer at the funeral of President Grant. In New York City, Browne was rabbi of Congregation Gates of Hope where in addition to his speaking engagements, he was also active in legal and civic work. Starting in the 1890s, Browne moved several times, living mainly in the Midwest and South. He served congregations in Toledo (Ohio), Chicago and Columbus (Georgia). In addition to his medical and rabbinical degrees, Browne also held a law degree from the University of Wisconsin. He became known as "Alphabet" Browne because of the preponderance of letters after his name. Browne led a controversial and visible public life and was involved in numerous activities including the unsuccessful attempt to establish a Jewish chaplaincy at the turn of the century. 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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