Inauguration Day Prayer for President Richard M. Nixon, by Rabbi Seymour Siegel (1973)

Contributor(s): Seymour Siegel and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Shared on: 21 January 2015 under the Public Domain (17 U.S. Code §105 - Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works)

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), Coronations & Inaugurations

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., democratic process, English vernacular prayer, United States

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Lord, Creator of all beginnings: We thank You for the opportunity of starting anew. Today those whom we have chosen to lead our country — President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew — pledge again their commitment to serve You and this great and blessed Nation. Grant them the wisdom to understand their true task; the courage to pursue it; and the health and vigor to persist in it.
	O Lord, source of all peace: We ask You with all our hearts that we be granted peace, for which we all yearn. Bless us and our leaders with harmony, vision, and strength of purpose so that we may better fulfill our responsibilities to You and to our fellow man. Bring us nearer to You and thus closer to each other — for next to being Your children our greatest privilege is that we are brothers of each other.
	On this historic occasion we praise You in ancient words of blessing:
בּרוך אתּה יי אלהינו מלך העולם אשר חלק מכבודו לבשר ודם. אמן׃	Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who shares a portion of His glory with mortal man. Amen.

This prayer by Rabbi Seymour Siegel at the second inauguration of President Richard M. Nixon was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 20, 1973.

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Inauguration Day Prayer for President Richard M. Nixon, by Rabbi Seymour Siegel (1973)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Seymour Siegel

Seymour Siegel (September 12, 1927 - February 24, 1988), often referred to as "an architect of Conservative Jewish theology," was an American Conservative rabbi, a Professor of Ethics and Theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), the 1983-1984 Executive Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,"[1] and an advisor to three American Presidents, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. Siegel was associated with JTS for 41 years, first as a student and later as an instructor, holding the Ralph Simon Professor of Ethics and Theology chair, succeeding his friend and mentor, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in that position. He was an outspoken champion of political conservatism, delivering a prayer at the 1973 second term inauguration of President Richard Nixon, but just as strong a champion of religious causes sometimes associated with liberalism, such as the ordination of female rabbis. In his obituary, New York Times religion writer, Ari L. Goldman, wrote that the writings of Seymour Siegel "helped open the door for the ordination of female rabbis" in the Conservative movement.

the Congressional Record of the United States of America

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Printing Office and issued when Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks. At the end of a session of Congress, the daily editions are compiled in bound volumes constituting the permanent edition. Statutory authorization for the Congressional Record is found in Chapter 9 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (wikipedia)

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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

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