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
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. . . . 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). . . . This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais for the recovery of President James Garfield after his being shot on 2 July 1881 is recorded in a newspaper clipping preserved on page 236 of the Sabato Morais Ledger, “‘A Nation Wounded.’ Opinions as Expressed in the Synagogue by a Prominent Rabbi.” The origin and date of the clipping is not indicated, however, the prayer was offered during the dedication of a synagogue in the then newly built Philadelphia Jewish Foster Home and Orphan Asylum on 12 June 1881 in Germantown. If you know the date of this synagogue dedication or the newspaper from which this clipping was taken, please leave a comment or contact us. We know a handful of prayers for President Garfield offered by Rabbi Morais over the course of the former’s lingering death, and this prayer seems to us to be the earliest of them, probably given sometime in July following the assassination, and recorded in the Philadelphia Inquirer or another newspaper. . . . A prayer for the recovery of President James A. Garfield was offered at Beth El Hebrew Congregation (Alexandria, Virginia) by Rabbi Leopold Rosenstraus in a public service on 9 July 1881 after the president was mortally wounded earlier that month (2 July) in an ultimately successful assassination attempt. The prayer was published on the front page of The Hebrew Leader (15 July 1881). . . . This prayer for the recovery of President James A. Garfield after he had been shot and his wound infected was offered by Rabbi Sabato Morais and recorded in the Jewish Record, “Prayers for Our Sick President. Synagogue Mickvé Israel” on 26 August 1881. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (p. 174, clipping 296), 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.) . . . This prayer for the recovery of President James A. Garfield after he had been shot and his wound infected was offered by Rabbi Sabato Morais and recorded in The Sunday Dispatch, “The Suspense of a Nation. A Thought and a Prayer” on 4 September 1881. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (p. 175, clipping 297), 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.) . . . This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais during the lingering death of President James Garfield is recorded in an undated and unsourced newspaper clipping, “A Petition in the Synagogue. Rabbi Morais’ Fervent Petition Before the Mickve Israel Congregation” preserved on page 237 of the Sabato Morais Ledger. The prayer is unique in appealing in the merit of four of the Founding Fathers of the United States (the first three presidents: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, along with Benjamin Franklin). . . . This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais after the death of President James Garfield is recorded in an undated newspaper clipping preserved on page 176 of the Sabato Morais Ledger. The clipping appears next to one printed in the Jewish Record on 30 September 1881, a few days prior to Yom Kippur that year. From the column borders similar to both clippings, the prayer appears to also have been published in the Jewish Record, possibly as part of a service in eulogy for the fallen president sometime soon after 19 September. . . . The proclamation and prayer of chief rabbi Yaakov Yosef, on the centennial of President George Washington’s Inauguration . . . 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 The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on Lincoln’s Birthday, 12 February 1948. . . . A prayer for the recovery of President Dwight D. Eisenhower following a severe heart attack in late September 1955. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 19 February 1959. . . . A prayer upon the inauguration of President Obama in January 2009. . . . A prayer for the recovery of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after a dangerous fall she endured in her office on 8 November 2018. . . . |
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