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 Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
“On the Los Angeles Earthquake” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 12 March 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 44-45. The earthquake, now known as the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, registered 6.4 on the Richter scale. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): “On the Legalization of Beer” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 32. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): “The German Crisis” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 3 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 59-60. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): “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: Tags: Contributor(s): “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: Tags: Contributor(s): “On the Disaster of the Akron” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 5 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 61-63. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): “On Abandoning the Gold Standard” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 21 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 74. Categories: Tags: 1933 Banking Act, 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., California State Legislature, Emergency Banking Act of 1933, English vernacular prayer, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Gold Reserve Act, Great Depression in the United States, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, United States Contributor(s): “On Education Week” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 24 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 77-78. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 March 1935. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 March 1935. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the second session of the 74th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 80 part 2 (3 February 1936), pp. 1363-1364. Categories: Tags: 74th Congress, 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., anti-fascist, anti-Nazi, English vernacular prayer, Great Depression in the United States, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot, the Holocaust, World War Ⅱ Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the first session of the 76th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 84 part 7 (16 June 1939), p. 7280. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the second session of the 76th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 85 part 1 (23 October 1939), p. 755. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the second session of the 76th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 86 part 2 (8 February 1940), pp. 1230-1231. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the twelfth month of the first session of the 77th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 87 part 9 (1 December 1941), pp. 9252-9253. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 21 April 1942. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 May 1942. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the tenth month of the second session of the 77th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 88 part 6 (1 October 1942), p. 7661. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the first session of the 78th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 89 part 3 (11 May 1943), p. 4196. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 June 1944 on the eve of D-Day in World War Ⅱ. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): |
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