This is an archive of prayers offered for the success of the democratically elected government of the United States of America and the well-being of its multicultural civil society. Click here to contribute a prayer you have written for the United States. Filter resources by Collaborator Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
“Ribon kol ha-Olamim” was almost certainly written by Rabbi Max Lilienthal in 1846 soon after he arrived in New York City where he was elected chief rabbi of New York’s “united German-Jewish community.” It was first published in L. Henry Frank’s prayerbook, Tefilot Yisrael: Prayers of Israel with an English translation (1848) without attribution. In 1998, Dr. Jonathan Sarna elucidated its authorship in an article, “A Forgotten 19th Century Prayer for the U.S. Government: Its Meaning, Significance and Surprising Author.” In Hesed Ve-Emet: Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs, eds. J. Magness and S. Gitin, 431-440. Athens, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1998. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): An original prayer for the government of the United States, Ohio, and the city of Cincinnati by Rabbi H.A. Henry was published in an article, “Emendation of the Liturgy” in The Asmonean (21 June 1850), p. 6. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): An opening prayer offered by the guest chaplain before the Virginia House of Delegates (1849-1850 legislative session) in the week of January 15-18, 1850, and published in The Richmond Enquirer (25 January 1850), p. 1. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The opening prayer offered by Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, in his role as guest chaplain before the 74th New York State Senate on 24 June 1851, and published under the header, “Albany” in The Asmonean (11 July 1851), on page 5. The prayer is one of the earliest offered by a rabbi before a state legislature in the United States. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This Thanksgiving Day prayer for welfare of the country and congregation by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered at the end of his sermon on 27 November 1851 and recorded in The Asmonean on 12 December 1851. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 2, clipping 001), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer is found in conclusion to “A Sermon Delivered on Thanksgiving Day (November 25, 1852) Before the Congregation Mikvé Israel at their Synagogue in Cherry Street by the Rev. S. Morais, Reader of the Congregation,” pp. 10-11. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is one of three opening prayers offered by the guest chaplain, Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, before the Legislature of the State of New York, in the State Assembly (on Tuesday, the 13th of January or Thursday the 15th of January 1852), and in the State Senate (on Monday the 12th, Wednesday the 14th, or Friday the 16th). The prayer was published in The Asmonean (30 January 1852), in a letter dated 20 January from a correspondent identified only under the pseudonym “Bassist.” This prayer is one of two prayers offered in the letter. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is one of three opening prayers offered by the guest chaplain, Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, before the Legislature of the State of New York, in the State Assembly (on Tuesday, the 13th of January or Thursday the 15th of January 1852), and in the State Senate (on Monday the 12th, Wednesday the 14th, or Friday the 16th). The prayer was published in The Asmonean (30 January 1852), in a letter dated 20 January from a correspondent identified only under the pseudonym “Bassist.” This prayer is one of two prayers offered in the letter. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer for the government of a Republic (in contradistinction to a Kingdom) was offered in a Letter to the Editor by Abraham Prince (as “A. Prince”), an optician representing their Boston congregation, Ohabei Shalom.[foot]For more on Abraham Prince, Ohabei Shalom, and Boston’s early Jewish community, find “Boston: A Close Community” by Robert P. Swierenga in The Forerunners: Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora (2018).[/foot] The prayer appeared in The Asmonean (26 November 1852), on page 5. At the time, reformist minded rabbis and congregations in the United States were interested in liturgical alternatives to the form of the prayer for the government found in Hanotén Teshu’ah, to more pointedly or appropriately signal their approval of the representative government that guaranteed their minority rights and equal representation under the Constitution. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This Thanksgiving Day prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered at the conclusion of a “Thanksgiving Discourse. An Address. Delivered by a member of the order on the 24th of November, it being the Thanksgiving Day appointed by the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania.” and recorded in The Masonic Mirror and Keystone on 7 December 1853. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 3b-c, clipping 002), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is one of three opening prayers offered by the guest chaplain, Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, for the week commencing 11 April 1853. The prayer was published in “The Israelite Chaplain in the N.Y. Legislature,” The Asmonean (15 April 1853), p. 5. It is the only prayer we have from this week that he officiated in 1853. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This Thanksgiving Day prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered at the conclusion of a “The Watchfulness of Providence over Nations. A Thanksgiving Address delivered by the Rev. S. Morais, Minister of the Portuguese Synagogue, of Philadelphia, on the 20th November, 1856.” and recorded in The Asmonean (on 28 November 1856. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 8, clipping 007), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. A note next to the clipping reads, “His lecture aimed to oppose knownothingism (???) antagonism indirectly shown.” (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): “Father of nations! Judge divine!” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1856, and appears under the subject of “Our Country” as Hymn 149 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), pp. 144-146. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is the text of the Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall’s prayer offered before the U.S. House of Representatives as recorded in the Congressional Globe, (part 1, 36th Congress, 1st Session, 1859-1860) pp. 648-649, and reprinted in The Occident and American Jewish Advocate, 18:46 9 Feb 1860, pp. 275-276. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This “Prayer of the C.S. Soldiers” was written by Max Michelbacher of Congregation Beth Ahabah, Richmond, Virginia, and distributed to Jewish soldiers in the Confederate armed forces during the Slaveholders’ Rebellion (1861-1865). While this prayer is undated, we have tentatively given the date ca. 1861 given the proximity of Richmond, Virginia to the First Battle of Bull Run. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais was offered on Shemini Atseret, the day decreed by President Abraham Lincoln for “public humiliation, prayer and fasting” (26 September 1861) as recorded in an “Address. Delivered by the Rev. S. Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mikveh Israel, Philadelphia, on the National ‘Fast Day.'” published in The Jewish Messenger on 4 October 1861. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 21, clipping 022), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. The annotation accompanying the clipping reads, “at the breaking out of the unfortunate Civil War.” (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This Thanksgiving Day Prayer for 28 November 1861 was reprinted in The Jewish Messenger (vol. 10, no. 12, p. 91), on 13 December 1861. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 22, clipping 023), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) Unfortunately, that bit of clipping containing the prayer had disintegrated enough to make much of the prayer illegible. But thankfully, a microfilm copy of the The Jewish Messenger for the date of printing was available at the HUC-JIR Klau Library, Cincinnati. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais (1828-1897), of Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, was initially delivered on 15 April 1862 (the first day of Passover) at the conclusion of a sermon later printed in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 23 April 1862. A copy of that sermon was preserved in the Sabato Morais Ledger (p. 22, clip no. 23). (The prayer was also read by President Abraham Lincoln, who sent Rabbi Morais an acknowledgment). The letter was read into the congressional record on 29 February 1944 by Arthur G. Klein (1904-1968, D-NY) after it was brought to light by Moshe Davis at the 44th annual meeting of the American Jewish Historical Society on 12-13 February 1944 (Lincoln’s Birthday). . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This civic prayer, recorded by an unknown Montgomery, Alabama newspaper on 16 May 1862, was offered at the dedication of the new Ḳahl Montgomery synagogue building, by Rabbi James Koppel Gutheim. The newspaper clipping, found in the I. Solomon Collection in the manuscript department of Duke University Library, was transcribed by Dr. Bertram W. Korn for his article, “The Jews of the Confederacy,” American Jewish Archives vol. 13, no. 1 (Apr 1961), on pages 40-42. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This prayer by Rabbi Max Michelbacher was offered on 27 March 1863, a day appointed by Jefferson Davis for fasting and prayer, and published together with a sermon. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): |
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