Closing Prayer for Arbor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=35066
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication date_src_start: 1951-00-00 date_src_end: 1951-00-00 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"}] Date: 2021-01-11
Last Updated: 2025-04-11
Categories: 🇺🇸 Arbor Day (last Friday of April), Planting
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
Excerpt: This closing 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. 86. . . .
Content:
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O God, Creator of all that lives,
we have planted a tree
in token of our acknowledgement
of the duty that rests upon us
to further your work of creation.
It is upon you, however,
and upon your gifts
of rain
and sunshine
and nourishing soil
that the growth of this tree depends.
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And so is it with all our works
in making this a better world.
Every good deed we do is but a seed,
taken from the store of your infinite goodness,
planted by us in this world
and dependent upon your creative and sustaining power
to enable it to thrive and bear fruit.
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Our mothers and fathers planted a good seed,
the seed of a self-governing society
of free and equal citizens.
Instruct us in your law
so that we may know
how to prune the tree which they planted
of all unwholesome growths,
and how so to cultivate it
with loving and patient labor
that today’s new shoots
may ever draw the sap of life
from the deepest roots of our American past.
May our nation be indeed a tree of life
bearing blossoms of beauty
and fruit of goodness
for endless ages.
Amen.
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This closing 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. 86. It is unclear from this publication whether the prayer was written by Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, or Eugene Kohn separately or together in collaboration. I have replaced archaisms in this prayer (thee, thy, thou, etc.) as well as egalitarian language where male default language was invoked. –Aharon Varady
Source(s)
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: John Paul Williams
Bio: Dr. John Paul Williams (1900-1973) was chairman of the department of religion at Mount Holyoke College. In 1946, he served as president of the National Association of Biblical Instructors (now known as the American Academy of Religion). He wrote What Americans Believe and How They Worship (1952, revised 1962) containing the chapter "Judaism -- the Mother Institution." Together with Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn he co-authored the anthology of civic prayers, Faith in America (1951).
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/john-paul-williams
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Name: Eugene Kohn
Bio: Eugene Kohn (January 26, 1887 - April 1, 1977) was an American Reconstructionist rabbi, writer and editor. Born in Newark, New Jersey he attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and in 1912 received ordination. It was here that he met Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who taught him homiletics. Between 1912 and 1939 he served as a congregational rabbi in Conservative synagogues in the U.S. states of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin and Ohio. He also served as the president of the Rabbinical Assembly 1936-1937. He played a central role in the Reconstructionist movement. He edited its journal The Reconstructionist and, alongside Kaplan and Ira Eisenstein, edited The New Haggadah (1941), The Sabbath Prayer Book (1945) and The Reconstructionist Prayer Book (1948). Alongside Jack Cohen, Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg he was one of Kaplan's main disciples.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Kohn
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/eugene-kohn
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Name: Mordecai Kaplan
Bio: Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983), was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Kaplan
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/mordecai-kaplan
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Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
Website: https://aharon.varady.net
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription
Featured Image:
Title: arbor-day-wild-animal-park-girl-scout-plants-tree-assisted-by-leader-ef1fd7-1024
Caption: Arbor Day, Wild Animal Park, Girl Scout Plants Tree Assisted by Leader (circa 1979-1986)
