On Entering a Child in Religious School (CCAR 1951)

Contributor(s):

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

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

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20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers on behalf of children

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	“These words which I command you this day shall be upon thy heart…. and thou shalt teach them diligently unto Thy children.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
	Eternal Father, Source of all knowledge, Guide and Teacher of the generations of men: Thou hast revealed Thyself unto Thy children in the order and beauty of nature, in the promptings of human conscience and in the loyal devotion of sacred tradition. The knowledge of Thee is reborn in the hearts and minds of all children. “Out of the mouths of babes hast Thou established Thy strength” (Psalms 8:3). Thou hast commanded us to foster this natural knowledge of Thee, that it may grow strong through knowledge, express itself in worship, and become ennobled through deeds of mercy and justice to all Thy children.
	As Ḥannah brought the child Samuel to learn and serve in Thy house, as every older generation brought its children to synagogue and school, as my own beloved parents brought me into Thy house that I may study Thy law, so do I now bring my child to be enrolled among those who seek to know Thy ways and to follow the path of Thy commandments.
	O God of Knowledge, grant, I pray Thee, that this child of mine grow in heart and mind. May the story of Thy guidance of the household of Israel, the discipline of the Law which they obeyed as Thy will, the mandate of righteousness which the prophets spoke in Thy name, all enter the life of my son/daughter that he/she may be matured in knowledge and in the reverence of Thee. Amen.

“On Entering a Child in Religious School” is the thirteenth prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occassions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 55-56. 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.

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Dunya School students in a classroom (credit: Buyerlerdeqalardim, license: CC BY-SA)

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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)

On Entering a Child in Religious School (CCAR 1951)

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