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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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civic prayers —⟶ tag: civic prayers Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? “Closing Prayer [for Labor Day]” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, civic prayers, ecumenical prayers, English vernacular prayer Contributor(s): This opening prayer for Arbor Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, civic prayers, ecumenical prayers, English vernacular prayer, planting trees, United States Contributor(s): This opening prayer for Flag Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 117 This closing ceremony for Flag Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), pp. 133-135. A prayer composed for a ceremony honoring the tenure of Charles Henry Martens, mayor of East Orange, New Jersey on his retirement from three decades of civic service. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): A prayer for the electorate to be recited together with the Prayer for Government on the Shabbat before an election (federal, state, or local). On Tuesday, we go to the polls in a momentous election that for many of us has generated a combination of anxiety, excitement, fear, and confusion. We offer you this prayer, which you can recite this Shabbat, before you vote, or while you are waiting for returns. A prayer for the United States, its leaders and government and its citizens — a personal response to things that were troubling me in the months before November’s election – in particular the level of divisiveness in our country, and what seemed to me to be a growing sense that it isn’t important to respect people we disagree with, and an ever more prevalent belief that we are entitled to decide for ourselves which rules to follow, and all that matters are own rights and our beliefs, not our responsibilities to one another. Inspired by the events of 2020 Categories: Tags: 2020 coronavirus outbreak in the United States, 2020 coronavirus pandemic, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, civic prayers, civic responsibility, democracy, Donald Trump, English vernacular prayer, pluralism, United States, United States General Election 2020 Contributor(s): A private prayer for fulfilling your civic duty and voting, whether in a voting booth or by mail. The concluding partial berakhah (without its full preamble, so as to avoid a berakhah levatala) is traditionally stated upon seeing a king of a nation, so in a democratic regime it seems appropriate to adopt for the voters. Based on the Prayer For Freedom from Strife and the Prayer that One Be a Lover and a Pursuer of Peace taken from the Liqutei Tefilot of Reb Nosson of Nemirov. Edited and reworked by Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum. English Translation: Rabbi Martin S. Cohen. Categories: Tags: 2020 Israeli legislative election, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., civic prayers, difference disagreement and deviance, disagreement, tolerance of difference, ישראל Yisrael Contributor(s): A prayer for the observance of Memorial Day in the United States. This is a brief prayer for America’s veterans and service members on Veterans Day Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, civic prayers, English vernacular prayer, United States Contributor(s): A civic prayer for the United States of America in anticipation of Election Day 2024. This Prayer for Voting was written by Rachie Lewis, senior writer of קשת Keshet: For LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life, and first published at Keshet’s website on 23 September 2024. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., civic prayers, civic responsibility, democratic process, English vernacular prayer, LGBTQIA+, United States General Election 2024, voting Contributor(s): “A Prayer for Librarians” by Trisha Arlin was first shared via their website, Trisha Arlin: Words of Prayer and Intention, on 7 December 2024. “Find the Lily” is a prayer-poem written in first person by Trisha Arlin. It was first shared via their website, Trisha Arlin: Words of Prayer and Intention, on 6 November 2024. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, civic prayers, Donald Trump, English vernacular prayer, Prayers as poems Contributor(s): A prayer for America, its government and leaders, and its citizens, which I first posted in 2020, and reconsidered now in 2025, to speak to the challenges our country and public life today. This invocation was given at the 78th annual George Washington Letter Reading Event, August 17, 2025 (23 Av, 5785), held by the Touro Synagogue Foundation to celebrate the famous 1790 letter exchange between the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island (represented by warden Moses Seixas) and first president of the United States, George Washington. Washington’s response to Seixas’s letter, in which he quotes some of his most iconic phrasings, is one of the first official statements by the US government on the value of religious freedom. This Letter Reading Event was held in the Old Colony House (where the Jewish community’s letter was probably presented to President Washington), rather than in the Touro Synagogue, due to Congregation Shearith Israel in New York’s barring of the Touro Synagogue Foundation from access to the building. “A Prayer for Our Country During a Time of Division – 5786” was offered by David Abernethy on 1 March 2026. | ||
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