Prayer for Unity (Pour Out Thy Blessing), an alternative formulation of Shfokh Ḥamatekha by Rabbi Abraham Cronbach (1932)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Abraham Cronbach

Shared on:

11 December 2025 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Tags:

American Jewry of the United States, anti-war, English vernacular prayer, interwar period, Jewish pacifism, שפוך חמתך shfokh ḥamatekha

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O God of Love, Father of Men, from Whom alone desires of peace and fellowship come, and in Whom alone can such desires bear fruit, pour out Thy blessing that it may bring peace, abolishing war among the nations, and hasten in Thy love the time when all men will have been gathered to Thee in perfect unity. Amen.

This prayer, entitled “[Prayer for] Unity,” was published in The Jewish Peace Book for Home and School (1932) under “Section III: Peace Devotions for Jewish Use — Prayers for Peace” on page 100. Following the prayer, Rabbi Cronbach notes the prayer is “from Peace Service, compiled by [the] National Council for the Prevention of War (NCPW).” The prayer reads to me as alternative formulation of the prayer Shfokh Ḥamatkha offered at the traditional pouring of Elijah’s cup before the Pesaḥ seder’s Hallel service.

Source(s)

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.)

Abraham Cronbach

Abraham Cronbach (February 15, 1882 – April 2, 1965) was a Reform movement rabbi in the United States, a teacher, and a leader and activist for Jewish pacifism. He served as a rabbi for congregations in Indiana, Ohio, and New York. Cronbach was one of the founders of the Peace Heroes Memorial Society and a co-founder of the Jewish Peace Fellowship.

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Women’s Peace Parade in New York City, 29 August 1914 (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)