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Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

This is an archive of civic prayers offered by an appointed chaplain or designated guest chaplain for opening a legislative session of a governmental body. Initiating such meetings with a prayer may have started with the "Elizabethan Parliaments" presided over by Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ of England beginning in 1559. By the 18th century, the tradition had spread to Freemasons as a ceremonial custom for opening their Lodge meetings. Famously, Rev. Jacob Duché, Rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, opened the First Continental Congress with a prayer, and so the tradition became woven into the fabric of the founding of the United States.

While the practice was early dominated by Christian clergy, Jewish leaders began asserting their requests for equal representation in American civic life around 1830. While existing research is not yet comprehensive, Jewish participation in this tradition appears to first arise in the state legislatures. Often left unrecorded in legislative records, around 1850, these prayers started getting more popular coverage in historic newspapers. In 1860, Morris Raphall, offered the first prayer of a rabbinic guest chaplain in the US House of Representatives, and in 1870, Isaac Mayer Wise offered the first prayer of a rabbinic guest chaplain before the US Senate. The civic custom couples easily with rabbinic Judaism's long-standing practice of offering public prayers for the welfare of sovereign leaders. ---Aharon Varady

Resources filtered by COLLABORATOR: “Aharon N. Varady (transcription)” (clear filter)

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Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Barry Tabachnikoff on 24 April 1990

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 24 April 1990.

Categories:

🇺🇸 Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (28-29 April), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

101st Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

the Congressional Record of the United States of America, Barry Tabachnikoff and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arthur Schneier on 8 May 1990

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 8 May 1990.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

101st Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Arthur Schneier, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi David Saltzman on 6 September 1990

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 6 September 1990.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

101st Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

David Saltzman, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Irving Spielman on 12 September 1990

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 12 September 1990.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

101st Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Irving Spielman, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Jay Marcus on 13 September 1990

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 September 1990.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

101st Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Jay Marcus, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Seth Frisch on 19 March 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 19 March 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Seth H. Frisch, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein on 20 March 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 20 March 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Yechiel Eckstein, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Alvin K. Berkun on 8 May 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 8 May 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, George H.W. Bush, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Alvin K. Berkun, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Tzvi H. Porath on 14 May 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 14 May 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Tzvi Porath, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman on 12 June 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 12 June 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, חבּ״ד ḤaBaD Lubavitch, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Shmuel Butman, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Moshe Feller on 16 October 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 16 October 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, חבּ״ד ḤaBaD Lubavitch, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, שבע מצות בני נח Seven Noaḥide Commandments, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Moshe Feller, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Chaplain Jonathan A. Panitz on 16 October 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 16 October 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Jonathan A. Panitz, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Milton Balkany on 7 November 1991

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 7 November 1991.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Milton Balkany, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Martin Jay Applebaum on 20 February 1992

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 20 February 1992.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Martin Jay Applebaum, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Robert B. Slosberg on 2 April 1992

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 2 April 1992.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Robert Slosberg, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Rachmiel Liberman on 13 May 1992

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 May 1992.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

102nd Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, חבּ״ד ḤaBaD Lubavitch, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Rachmiel Liberman, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the Georgia State House of Representatives: Rabbi Dr. Miriam Udel on 2 February 2023

The invocation for the 11th day of the 157th session of the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in the United States.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, בצלם אלהים btselem Elohim, State of Georgia

Contributor(s):

Miriam Udel, State of Georgia House of Representatives and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Hannah Spiro on 5 September 2023

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 5 September 2023.

Categories:

Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

118th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah

Contributor(s):

Hannah Spiro, the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff on 22 October 2024

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 22 October 2024.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

118th Congress, 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Multinational Force in Lebanon

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Arnold E. Resnicoff

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Pinchus Ciment on 27 March 2025

This prayer by Rabbi Pinchus Ciment was offered while serving as guest chaplain before the 119th Congress, 1st Session of the US House of Representatives on 27 March 2025. The prayer was published in the Congressional Record, v.171, n.56 (Wednesday, March 27, 2025), House, page H1305.

Categories:

🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags:

119th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, English vernacular prayer, חבּ״ד ḤaBaD Lubavitch, U.S. House of Representatives

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Pinchus Ciment and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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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)

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