Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1868)

Contributor(s):

Sabato Morais and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

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

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Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November), United States of America

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19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Philadelphia, English vernacular prayer, Ḳ.Ḳ. Miḳveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Everlasting and Omnipotent God, what return can the creatures of the earth make for Thy celestial benefits? Behold! Lebanon might be divested of its majestic cedars to burn therewith incense on Thy altar; the beasts of the forest might be gathered to offer a holocaust unto Thee, but neither act could suffice to do Thee homage. For thine is the universe with the fulness thereof; and the brightest angels encircling the heavenly throne cannot adequately extol Thy name.
	But Thou hast taught us to believe that “the prayer of the upright is Thy delight,” (Proverbs 15:8 part) therefore have we this day approached Thee, O Lord, with sincere lips and grateful hearts. Deign to look down benignantly upon the people Thy hands have formed and sustained, and to grant their request. They crave for Thy divine presence, that it may dwell within them, and deliver their souls from the heinous sin engendered by prosperity: from pride, the downfall of nations.
	For verily Thou didst feed them with the abundance of Thy goodness, and Thy shield warded them from impending dangers. Because Thou lovest America with a mighty love, Thou didst open for her children treasures in distant climes, and cause people they knew not to seek their alliance. Therefore is Thy praise now rehearsed, in various forms but in unity of sentiments, by the millions whom Thy paternal care hath preserved, increased, enriched and magnified; therefore doth the broad sea on the west echo the hallelujahs wafted over the expansive ocean on the east.
	Grant, O beneficent God! that this yearly gathering may keep alive in our minds a sense of our dependence upon Thy Providence, and may it inspire us with humility. For unto Thee alone belongs the power, and the kingdom, and the exaltation, and at Thy bidding will the inhabitants of the world be lowered down or raised up. May we be ever deserving of the continuance of Thy favors by sharing them with the hapless and the oppressed.
	And grant, O God! who makest joy and peace, Thy pavilion, that to preserve peace through our Union and enhance our national joys, the wisdom and labors of our leaders may constantly be directed.
	Hosanna! O Sovereign of the world! Thou before whom there was no God, and besides whom there is none.

This Thanksgiving Day Prayer for 27 November 1868 was reprinted in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 27 November 1868. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 36, clipping 044), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.)

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“Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1868)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

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.

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.)

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Works of related interest:

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1864-11-24] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 23, clipping 028)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1864)

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1866-11-29] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 25, clipping 031)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (29 November 1866)

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1867-11-28] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 35, clipping 042) - cropped

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (28 November 1867)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day on the First Day of Ḥanukkah during the Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (28 November 1861)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1870)

Thanksgiving Day Prayer [1873-11-27] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 61) - cropped

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1873)

James A. Garfield Republican candidate for president - Chester A. Arthur Republican candidate for vice president / Vic Arnold

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day after the Assassination of President James A. Garfield, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1881)

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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