Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Israel Poleyeff on 5 April 1995

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55232

Date: 2024-04-05

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags: 104th Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 April 1995. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Israel Poleyeff, Brooklyn, New York
Sponsor: Senator Alfonse D’Amato (D-NY)
Date of Prayer: 5 April 1995

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Almighty God: We ask Thy blessings upon the distinguished Members of this Senate of the United States of America. Give them insight to understand the concerns and problems of all the people of this blessed land; bless them with wisdom to enact laws that will benefit all its inhabitants, and imbue them with courage to make difficult decisions for the public good.
	For more than a century, millions of immigrants, my father’s family amongst them,[1] The family of Moshe Aharon Poleyeff (1888 – 1966) a rabbi and Rosh Yeshivah at Yeshiva University in New York for over 45 years, a teacher of many prominent Orthodox rabbis.  came to these shores seeking freedom from tyranny and oppression.
	To this very day our beloved country still serves as a beacon of light to those to whom freedom is but an elusive ideal.
	To this very day our country still stands as a shining example of individual liberty and limitless opportunity.
	More than two centuries ago, our Founding Fathers created a nation in which every individual had the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.[2] Cf. the US Declaration of Independence, stylized by Benjamin Franklin and penned by Thomas Jefferson, famously signed 4 July 1776. Scholars differ as to whether the historical origin of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are rooted in Lockean Rights (following after the “Virginia Declaration of Rights” written by George Mason and adopted 12 June 1776) or possibly in Jefferson’s self-proclaimed Epicureanism. –Aharon Varady.
	The Members of this Senate have the awesome responsibility of seeing that those goals remain the hallmark of our Nation.
	We beseech Thee, O Lord, imbue them with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to hold aloft the banner of freedom and the torch of liberty, so that all the inhabitants of this country shall be privileged to live, work, and worship their God as they choose and without fear.
	May our country be the leader among nations in ushering in an era of universal peace and harmony so that the words of the prophet may be fulfilled in our time, when “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4) May this by Thy will. Amen.

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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fourth month of the first session of the 104th US Congress in the Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 141, no. 63 (Senate – April 5, 1995), page s5161.

Recording

Source(s)

 

Notes

Notes

1

The family of Moshe Aharon Poleyeff (1888 – 1966) a rabbi and Rosh Yeshivah at Yeshiva University in New York for over 45 years, a teacher of many prominent Orthodox rabbis.

2

Cf. the US Declaration of Independence, stylized by Benjamin Franklin and penned by Thomas Jefferson, famously signed 4 July 1776. Scholars differ as to whether the historical origin of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are rooted in Lockean Rights (following after the “Virginia Declaration of Rights” written by George Mason and adopted 12 June 1776) or possibly in Jefferson’s self-proclaimed Epicureanism. –Aharon Varady.

Contributor: Israel Poleyeff

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Israel Poleyeff
  Bio: Rabbi Israel Poleyeff (1928-), born in Brooklyn, New York, is an Orthodox rabbi, chaplain, and educator in the United States. He graduated Yeshivah University in 1949 and received semikhah there in 1951. From 1954-1956, he served at Fort Pickett, Virginia as a rabbi Chaplain in the US Army. Afterward, he served at pulpits in Pennsylvania (Congregation Tifereth Israel, New Castle) and New Jersey (Congregation Agudath Achim, Freehold) until in 1967 he became rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Achim in Brooklyn. While there he was also a teacher at the Hebrew Academy of Five Towns, Cedarhurst, New York until 1999. He served on the Rabbinical Board of Flatbush (president 1979-1981, 1991-2001).
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/israel-poleyeff
• 
  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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