[Prayer for a] Birthday Celebration (CCAR 1951)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

Shared on:

3 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Bnei (Bar/Bat) Mitsvah & Other Birthday Prayers

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., birthday prayers, English vernacular prayer

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O eternal God, Thou art the Master of our destiny and the source of all life. Our times are in Thy hand. We thank Thee day by day for Thy manifold blessings and, as year follows year, we are grateful that Thou hast sustained us.
	We gather today in special joy and thankfulness to share in the happiness of our dear (___). It is Thou who hast granted him/her) strength and life. Bless him/her, O Lord, with health and joy. Sustain him/her in times of sickness and console him/her in days of sorrow. Endow him/her with long life and abundance of blessing; and grant to us the joy of meeting, for many years, as on this day, a loving family in mutual reverence and unbroken unity.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה׃	Praised be Thou, O Lord, our God, Ruler of the world, who hast kept us in life, sustained us and brought us to this happy day.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַמוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאֲרֶץ׃	Praised be Thou, O Lord our God, Ruler of the world, who causest the earth to yield food for all.

“[Prayer for a] Birthday Celebration” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), page 31. Unfortunately, as with so many of the prayers published as a result of CCAR committees from this period and earlier, we cannot yet attribute this prayer to any known author. (If you know, please leave a comment or contact us.)

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.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=66952

Associated Image:

Themed birthday party, ca. 1910-1915, likely in New Jersey.

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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)

[Prayer for a] Birthday Celebration (CCAR 1951)

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