Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Alan M. Sokobin on 25 February 1957
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=54458
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Date: 2024-02-25
Last Updated: 2024-02-26
Categories: Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, United States of America
Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 85th Congress, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. House of Representatives, תחינות teḥinot
Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 February 1957. . . .
Content:
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Alan M. Sokobin, Temple Beth El, Laurelton, Long Island, New York
Sponsor: Rep. Hugh Joseph Addonizio (D-NJ)
Date of Prayer: 25 February 1957
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O Lord our God,
through the ages Thy servants have turned unto Thee
for moral guidance in times of stress and indecision.
As we contemplate our world, O our Father,
with its clamor and its conflicts,
we seek inspiration from Thee
that we might do the good and the right.
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Teach us, O God,
to keep ever before our eyes
Thy standards of justice and morality.
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While we speak for all that is good,
may we never fail ourselves
and our fellows
by acting basely.
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Remind us
that while we hear our own words
the peoples of the world watch our actions.
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Aid us,
that while we act
we should constantly have before us
one standard of goodness.
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May this House, in its deliberations,
never sacrifice human rights
to political expediency.
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May this House so act in justice and righteousness
that it may be known as a house of God.
Amen.
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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the second month of the first session of the 85th US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 103, part 2 (1957), page 2549.
Source(s)
Congressional Record vol. 103, part 2 (25 February 1957), p. 2549
Contributor: Alan Sokobin
Co-authors:
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Name: Alan Sokobin
Bio: Rabbi Alan Mayor Sokobin (1926-2020), born in Newark, New Jersey, was a Reform movement rabbi in Toledo, Ohio. of Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim. At the onset of World War II, at age 15, he left home to join the Navy. He saw action in the European Theater and was on a vessel escorting troop ships for the occupation of Japan at war's end. Through the benefits of the GI Bill, he attended Syracuse University, from which he received a bachelor's degree in history. His father's interest in their Jewish faith and tradition inspired him to pursue rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College. Ordained in 1955 and served as a student assistant in 1953-54 to Rabbi Leon Feuer in Toledo. In 1972, he returned to Toledo to become co-rabbi, with Rabbi Feuer, of the Collingwood Avenue Temple. He attained a doctor of theology degree from Burton College and served on the board of HUC-JIR. In Toledo he became chairman of the Labor Management Citizens Committee. After his retirement from Shomer Emunim in 1992, he went to law school at the University of Toledo, graduating in 1996. He became a lecturer at the university and spoke on Jewish law and took part in panels on the legal and moral aspects of end-of-life decisions. In retirement as well, he served as the executive director of the Medical Mission Hall of Fame Foundation at UT. In 1999, he received the Rabbi Morton Goldberg Community Service Award, named for the late charter member of L-M-C, which was formed decades earlier to bring labor peace to Toledo. Rabbi Sokobin and former Mayor Harry Kessler led a study committee on improving Toledo Municipal Court, and the the rabbi was on a Toledo Hospital ethics panel.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/alan-sokobin
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Name: the Congressional Record of the United States of America
Bio: The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Printing Office and issued when Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks. At the end of a session of Congress, the daily editions are compiled in bound volumes constituting the permanent edition. Statutory authorization for the Congressional Record is found in Chapter 9 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (wikipedia)
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Record
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/united-states-congressional-record
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