Prayer for the United States on a Civic Fast Day to avert Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (26 September 1861)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Sabato Morais

Shared on:

28 July 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

War, United States of America

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Philadelphia, English vernacular prayer, Slaveholders' Rebellion (1861-1865), Ḳ.Ḳ. Miḳveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Lord God! who didst bless this land with Thy favors, restore her, we beseech thee to unity. Cancel her iniquities, and let her be distinguished anew for the virginal purity of her pristine years. Grant that charity and truth may weave the garland that shall adorn her children, for, then will righteousness and peace be met in her midst clasped in each others embrace.
	Guide Thou the steps which are now wending toward the conquest of right, that they may not overreach the bounds prescribed. Let the mind which a misguided judgment has darkned, become penetrated with the light of truth, and it will amend its errors.
	Grant O God! that the nation thou triest in the crucible of affliction, may issue forth purified from the drop that has sullied it.
	Oh, Eternal Being, who didst rekindle feelings of love in the bosom of the fierce son of Isaac, breathe into us words of brotherly, reconciliation, and let the hand that wields the sword be fraternally seized with a mutual grasp.
	At this hour, when the heart of a whole nation is upheaved to thee, calm O Omnipotent! its inward perturbation. Regard the prayer, which in various strains, but in consonance of thoughts, is addressed to thee. Let the Angel of Mercy present it to the Throne of Grace, and bring down thy Fatherly blessing upon thy suppliants, even, honor, union and peace for evermore.— Amen.

This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered on Shemini Atseret, the day decreed by President Abraham Lincoln for “public humiliation, prayer and fasting” (26 September 1861) as recorded in an “Address. Delivered by the Rev. S. Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mikveh Israel, Philadelphia, on the National ‘Fast Day.'” published in The Jewish Messenger on 4 October 1861. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 21, clipping 022), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. The annotation accompanying the clipping reads, “at the breaking out of the unfortunate Civil War.” (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.)

Source(s)

prayer for the national fast day at the outbreak of the civil war [1861-09-26] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 21 clipping 022) – a

prayer for the national fast day at the outbreak of the civil war [1861-09-26] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 21 clipping 022) – b

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Prayer for the United States on a Civic Fast Day to avert Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (26 September 1861)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

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.)

Sabato Morais

Rabbi Sabato Morais (שבתאי מוראיס; April 13, 1823 – November 11, 1897) was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and in 1886, co-founder (with Henry Pereira Mendes) of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America to preserve the knowledge and practice of traditional, historical rabbinic Judaism in the United States.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=45862

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prayer for the national fast day at the outbreak of the civil war [1861-09-26] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 21 clipping 022) – a

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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