This prayer, initially delivered by Rabbi Joseph Baron as an invocation at the opening of the 12th U.A.W.-C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, July 1949, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 81-82. The prayer was selected for the anthology by Walter P. Reuther (1907-1970), a Lutheran, a leader of organized labor, and a civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history.

Source(s)

“Opening prayer for the 12th U.A.W.–C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, by Rabbi Joseph Baron (1949)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Jospeh L. Baron

Joseph L. Baron (1894-1960) was born in Vilna. Immigrating to the U.S. in 1907, Baron studied rabbinics at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and the Hebrew Union College (HUC), where he was ordained in 1920. After serving as a congregational rabbi in Davenport, Iowa for six years, Rabbi Baron moved to Temple Emanu-El in Milwaukee in 1926. While there, Baron helped establish Reform congregations in many Wisconsin towns and taught at the Milwaukee State Teachers College. Rabbi Baron was a prolific scholar, publishing many volumes, including, In Quest of Integrity, Death in Jewish Folk Religion, and compiled A Treasury of Jewish Quotations. Among his many communal activities, Rabbi Baron served on the Board of Governors of HUC. Joseph L. Baron died in 1960.

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.)

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prayer for labor AFL-CIO (Joseph Baron 1949) – 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