[Prayer] on Education Week, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (24 April 1933)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=51779
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Date: 2023-06-22
Last Updated: 2025-03-29
Categories: Learning, Study, and School, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies
Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., American Education Week, California State Legislature, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, United States
Excerpt: "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. . . .
Content:
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Heavenly Father,
Thou art a guide to the perplexed.
Thy instruction sustains us in the hour of trial;
the knowledge of Thy ways enheartens us
in the hour of temptation.
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We thank Thee
that Thou hast implanted within us
the desire to know Thee—
to fathom the mysteries of Thy creation—
to understand the world in which we live.
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At the beginning of this week, dedicated to education,
we pray Thy guidance, O Father.
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Give us ambition
that we may be eager to study and learn.
Give us the desire
to master the knowledge required
to make us competent in our various undertakings.
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Make us impatient with half-truths
and intolerant of slip-shod methods.
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Give us patience,
that no task, however difficult,
may discourage or dismay us,
and [give us] strength,
that we may hurdle every obstacle in the way before us.
Imbue us with pride
that we halt not
’till the knowledge we are seeking
is truly ours
and the goal which beckons
is finally reached.
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And when formal education is completed, O Father,
may we not become complacent and contented.
Rather may each new day find us
adding additional knowledge and information to our stores
and discovering new goals
toward which we may aspire.
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“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.
Source(s)
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Norman Michael Goldburg
Bio: Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg (Feb 22, 1902 - Jun 12, 1993) originally from St. Louis, Missouri, was ordained at HUC and graduated from the University of Cincinnati, afterward doing graduate work at the University of Chicago and Howard Divinity School. He served as rabbi of Temple B'nai Israel in Sacramento, California in the 1930s. There, he was appointed chaplain of the State Legislature during the biennial session of 1933, and led the Sacramento Council for Civic Unity through which he advocated for Japanese Americans’ civil rights. During World War Ⅱ, he served as a chaplain in the US Army. In 1949, he came to Augusta, Georgia where he served as rabbi for the the Walton Way Temple (later Temple Children of Israel) until 1968. Rabbi Goldburg also served as president of Augusta Library and taught philosophy at Augusta College. He held honorary degrees from HUC and Augusta (Georgia) College of Law. Besides his collection of prayers written during his tenure as chaplain in Sacramento, he also wrote the novel, Patrick J. McGilllcuddy and the Rabbi (1969).
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/norman-michael-goldburg
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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: American Education Week 1933 (stamp)
Caption: American Education Week 1933 (stamp)
