A Prayer for Our Teachers, by Rabbi Albert G. Baum (ca. 1930s)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Albert G. Baum

Shared on:

2 September 2022 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Learning, Study, and School

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, prayers for educators

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Lord, our God — If our lips were filled with song and our tongues with words of constant praise, we would still be unable to thank Thee for the many blessings which Thou dost daily bestow upon us.^[1] From the prayer, “Nishmat kol ḥai”
	We sing Thy praise for the masters and teachers in Israel, for our educators who help us understand that the universe, which Thou hast given to man as a home, is founded on law and order, harmony and peace.
	May Thy spirit ever inspire our teachers, poets and writers of songs so that they may help us wipe out the ugliness, strife, suffering and cruelty which mar the beauty and goodness of Thy universe.
	Enable Thy servants to speak clearly and knowingly so that all men everywhere may learn to do Thy will with one accord.
	Bless the endeavors of all who strive to bring knowledge and understanding into the world and into the hearts of men everywhere.
	May our songs of praise ever be upon our lips.
	Amen.

“A Prayer for Our Teachers” by Rabbi Albert G. Baum was written sometime before 1962. Unfortunately, no more information was provided by Rabbi David Bial in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 64, from where this prayer was transcribed. Possibly, the prayer was written while Baum served as principal of the Park Avenue Synagogue Hebrew School in the late 1920s or as rabbi for Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria, Louisiana during the 1930s. If you know more, please leave a comment or contact us.

Source(s)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	From the prayer, “Nishmat kol ḥai”

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“A Prayer for Our Teachers, by Rabbi Albert G. Baum (ca. 1930s)” is shared by the living contributor(s) with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

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.)

Albert G. Baum

Rabbi Albert Gustavus Baum (1903-1996) was a Reform Jewish rabbi and organizer of new congregations for the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues. After graduating from City College in New York in 1923, he continued with graduate work at Columbia. At the Rabbi Stephen S. Wise Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, he was awarded the Philip Waldheim Prize in Social Service in 1927 and was the Free Synagogue Social Service Fellow in 1927-28. While a rabbinical student, he served as principal of the Park Avenue Synagogue Hebrew School and Temple Israel in Amsterdam, New York. After being ordained as a rabbi in 1930. he was appointed to Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim (a/k/a, The Temple) in Alexandria, Louisiana. He was the chosen delegate to the Rotary International Convention at Nice, France in 1937 and represented B'nai B'rith, District №7 as a delegate to their conventions. He also served as the Jewish Welfare Board representative for Central Louisiana, former vice-president of the Louisiana State Conference on Social Welfare, and as a member of the National Council of United Palestine Appeal. In 1942, he became a rabbi chaplain for the US Navy over the course of World War II. After workinf for the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues he joined the faculty of HUC in New York.

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Midbar Quest at Eden Village Camp (Aharon Varady 2015) – cropped

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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