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

Contributor(s):

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

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

Categories:

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

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

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Oh, let us pray for the dawning of that joyous day when thirty-five reunited States shall offer a national thanksgiving while the symbol of their greatness shall proudly wave over every dome and spire. Let us pray for peace:—
	Parent of good! we lay prostrate at the footstool or Thy mercy and crave for peace. Grateful for Thy manifold favors at all times, and this year especially, we yet cannot fully rejoice in its fruition. Thou hast verily filled to overflowing the cup of our prosperity, but that of bitter sorrow is also brought nigh to our lips. The aspect of the dead, the agony of the wounded, the moaning of the sufferers, tear our hearts. From the ensanguined battle-field, from the chilly and dreary camps, from the bereaved and lonely hearth, a voice rises unto Thee, O, compassionate Lord! and “peace, peace,” it cries.
	Oh, send a ray of Divine wisdom to illumine the mind of our Chief Magistrate, that he may discover the instrument of peace. Let the gentle spirit of forbearance hover around the assembly of our Senators and Representatives and guide their deliberations. Repress the vehemence of zealots, and let the feelings of the obdurate be softened by tokens of brotherhood and love. May we speedily throng again Thy holy courts, to thank and praise Thy name, Oh, Most High God, for the longed-for peace of our beloved Union.
	And now I beseech Thee, O, Lord, to execute within us a sentiment of patriotism that we may enlist our names among those of our beneficent men and women who labor for the sakes of our defenders at sea and on land. May our hospitals, our Sanitary Commissions and our soldiers’ and societies obtain a ready and generous co-operation from those who have been taught to believe that “Charity delivereth from death.” (Proverbs 11:4) May such be Thy gracious will, Heavenly Creator. Amen.

This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered on Thanksgiving Day at the conclusion of a sermon reprinted the following day in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 25 November 1864. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 23, clipping 028), 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.)

Source(s)

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

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“Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (24 November 1864)” 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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Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1873)

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

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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