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🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th)

This is an archive of prayers and benedictions offered on the day of the inauguration of the President of the United States (January 20th).

Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a translation of an existing prayer.

Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first?

Prayer for the Government in honor of George Washington, First President of the United States of America by Ḳ.Ḳ. Beit Shalome (1789)

The following prayer for the government was composed by Congregation Beth Shalome in Richmond, Virginia in 1789. Please note the acrostic portion of the prayer in which the initial letters of the succeeding lines form the name: Washington. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), Government & Country, 🇺🇸 George Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday of February), 🇺🇸 United States of America

Tags: 18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., acrostic, American Jewry of the United States, George Washington, inaugurations, Prayers for leaders, Presidents Day, United States, Western Sepharadim

Contributor(s): Abe Katz (translation), Ḳ.Ḳ. Beit Shalome and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer on the Centennial of the Inauguration of George Washington, by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef (1889)

The proclamation and prayer of chief rabbi Yaakov Yosef, on the centennial of President George Washington’s Inauguration . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), 🇺🇸 George Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday of February), 🇺🇸 United States of America

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, George Washington, inaugurations, Needing Vocalization, New York City, Prayers for leaders, Presidents Day, United States

Contributor(s): Yaakov Yosef, Judah David Eisenstein (translation) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

[Prayer] on the Eve of Inauguration, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (3 March 1933)

“On the Eve of Inauguration” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 3 March 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 36. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, Coronations & Inaugurations

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., California State Legislature, English vernacular prayer, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Great Depression in the United States, inaugurations, Prayers of Guest Chaplains

Contributor(s): Norman Michael Goldburg and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

[Prayer] on the Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (4 March 1933)

“On the Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 4 March 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 37. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, Coronations & Inaugurations

Contributor(s): Norman Michael Goldburg and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Harry S. Truman, by Rabbi Samuel Thurman (1949)

This prayer by Rabbi Samuel Thurman, of the United Hebrew Temple (St. Louis, Missouri), was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record for January 20, 1949. . . .

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

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

Contributor(s): Samuel Thurman and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Dwight D. Eisenhower by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver (1953)

This prayer by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, of Cleveland, Ohio, was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record for January 20, 1953. . . .

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

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

Contributor(s): Abba Hillel Silver and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Dwight D. Eisenhower by Rabbi Dr. Louis Finkelstein (1957)

This prayer at the second inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower by Rabbi Dr. Louis Finkelstein, chancellor, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record for January 20, 1957. . . .

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

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

Contributor(s): the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Louis Finkelstein

Inauguration Day Benediction for President John F. Kennedy by Rabbi Dr. Nelson Glueck (1961)

This benediction for President John F. Kennedy by Rabbi Dr. Nelson Glueck, was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 20, 1961. . . .

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

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

Contributor(s): Nelson Glueck and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Lyndon B. Johnson, by Rabbi Hyman Judah Schachtel (1965)

This prayer by Rabbi Hyman Judah Schachtel, Congregation Beth Israel (Houston, Texas), was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 20, 1965. . . .

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

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

Contributor(s): Hyman Judah Schachtel and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Richard M. Nixon by Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin (1969)

This prayer by Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 20, 1969. . . .

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

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., democratic process, English vernacular prayer, inaugurations, pink streaks of light, United States

Contributor(s): the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Edgar Magnin

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

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. . . .

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

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

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

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Ronald Reagan, by Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk (1985)

This prayer by Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk at the second inauguration of President Ronald Reagan was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 21, 1985. . . .

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

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

Contributor(s): Alfred Gottschalk and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Prayer for Our Country [upon the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama], by Ilana Joy Streit (2009)

A prayer upon the inauguration of President Obama in January 2009. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Coronations & Inaugurations

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, English vernacular prayer, inaugurations, Prayers as poems, Prayers for leaders, United States

Contributor(s): Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit

Inauguration Day Prayer for Donald Trump, by Rabbi Marvin Hier (2017)

Rabbi Marvin Hier offered this prayer of blessing for Donald Trump and the United States of America on January 20, 2017 at the inauguration day ceremony. . . .

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

Tags: 21st century C.E., 45th President of the United States, 58th century A.M., Donald Trump, English vernacular prayer, inauguration, Psalms 15, שתדלנות shtadlanut, United States

Contributor(s): the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Marvin Hier

Prayer on Inauguration, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center, 2021)

A prayer on being present in the moment of the inauguration of the 59th president of the United States. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., 59th Presidential Inauguration, American Jewry of the United States, English vernacular prayer, inaugurations, United States

Contributor(s): Arthur Waskow and the Shalom Center

Inauguration Day Prayer for the Government of the United States, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org 2021)

A prayer for the government of the United States of America on the day of the 59th Presidential Inauguration. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th)

Tags: 117th Congress, 21st century C.E., 46th President of the United States, 58th century A.M., 59th Presidential Inauguration, American Jewry of the United States, inaugurations, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, כוונות kavvanot, תחינות teḥinot, United States

Contributor(s): David Seidenberg and Neohasid·org

Inauguration Day Prayer for Donald Trump, by Rabbi Ari Berman (2025)

This prayer by Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, was offered as a benediction at the Inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump on 20 January 2025. . . .

Categories: 🇺🇸 Inauguration Day (January 20th), 🇺🇸 United States of America

Tags: 21st century C.E., 47th President of the United States, 58th century A.M., Donald Trump, English vernacular prayer, inaugurations, שתדלנות shtadlanut, United States

Contributor(s): Ari Berman and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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Associated Image:

Washington delivering his inaugural address April 1789, in the old city hall, New-York / painted by T.H. Matteson ; engraved on steel by H.S. Sadd.

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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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