Cooperation (CCAR 1923)

Contributor(s):

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

Shared on:

12 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Social Justice, Peace, and Liberty, Addenda

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., ecumenical prayers, English vernacular prayer, exhortation, interconnectedness, interdenominational cooperation, interfaith prayer, teḥinot in English, universalist prayers

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. (Ecclesiastes 4:9)
	Will two walk together except they have agreed? (Amos 3:3)
	Strengthen ye the weak hands, and make firm the tottering knees. (Isaiah 35:3)
	The envy also of Ephraim shall depart; and they that harass Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not vex Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Isaiah 11:13)
	Provide thyself with a teacher and acquire a comrade, and weigh all men in the scale of merit. (Mishnah Avot 1.6)
	This teaches man his proper relationship to his fellowmen. It is impossible for man to stand alone. He must be near to his fellow-men. One should never say: ‘What have I to do with so-and-so; he is not worthy of being my friend; he has sinned; he is wicked.’ Nay, man should strive to bring others near unto himself and not repel them. ‘Weigh all men in the scale of merit.’ This means that there should be no discord between thee and thy comrade whenever thou dost imagine that he has done something against you. (Derekh Chayyim 1.6.2, ad loc)
	Cooperation and concord are the basis of the social order. We live together and are dependent upon one another. Each must give generously to the rest and receive kindness in turn. ‘Two are better than one.’ Should two contend, both will suffer. Social well-being never comes from conflict, but from cooperation. Working apart is wasteful, working against each other is worse. Social competitions, social antagonisms, social conflicts mean social upheaval and havoc.
	But it is not due merely to worldly wisdom that Judaism asserts: ‘Let, there be no strife between us,’ but because of the larger principle: ‘We are brothers.’ In God, all men unite; for He is the universal Father. Just as, when we approach God, strife and bitterness cease and we come closer to our brethren, so too when we seek to understand the heart of our brethren, narrowness and selfishness vanish, and we may come nearer to God.
	Our generosity to our fellowmen and their forbearance toward us, teach us the meaning of God’s loving kindness. Our efforts to bring about unity among men clarify our vision and give fuller meaning to our words when we proclaim: ‘The Lord our God is One’ (Deuteronomy 6:4) As faith in God leads men to peace, so peace and concord lead men to God.
	Lord, Thou art our Father, and we are Thy children. In Thy sight all man-made distinctions vanish, the wise and the simple, the successful and the unfortunate all partake of Thy paternal beneficence. The abundance of Thy lovingkindness shames our selfishness, and the endlessness of Thy mercy rebukes our grudges and hatred. Our fraternal strife is a denial of Thy Fatherhood.
	Teach us, O Father, to live in concord with our fellow-men, and thus to prove that we, Thy children, are united in Thee. Thou dost bid us labor in Thy name; teach us to labor in Thy spirit, in patience and in justice. Since Thou hast told us that we are brethren, teach us also how good it is to dwell together in unity. The task which Thou hast set us, to rebuild the world according to Thy plan, is too great for each of us alone, but unite Thou our efforts and we can achieve it.
	The wind and the rain, the sun and the stars work together harmoniously fulfilling Thy changeless law. O grant unto Thy mortal servants a measure of Thy patience and forbearance, that all of us, parents and children, toilers and planners, races and nations, blend the voices of our hearts to praise Thy name together; so that, when we silence the shoutings of discord and quiet the murmurings of envy, Thy still voice may be heard speaking through the voice of humanity. Amen.

“Cooperation” is the forty-seventh prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 155-157. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution of authorship for any of the prayers in this volume.

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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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)

Cooperation (CCAR 1923)

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