Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55650
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedicationDate: 2024-04-27
Last Updated: 2025-02-18
Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies
Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 89th Congress, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot
Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 27 April 1966. . . .
Contribute a translation | Source (English) |
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How good and pleasant it is
when we dwell together in unity.[1] Cf. Psalms 133:1 Unto Thee, O God, we lift our souls in praise. As all creation reflects Thy glory, even so, man, fashioned in Thy image, reveals Thy majesty. |
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In this citadel of lawmaking,
we now stand to invoke Thy blessings upon these noble men and women who, by Thy will, have been chosen by the citizens of each State of our glorious country, the United States of America, to guide and guard the physical, moral, social, and spiritual life of our people. May the right choice and true application of thought always guide the work of their hands, so that they will continue to carry the lighted torch of understanding, of help and of peace to the four corners of the earth. |
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Bless our President,
our Vice President and our leaders who make up the insoluble chain of democracy in our land. May the jewels of wisdom give them strength, courage, patience, and power, so that the whole world will be fashioned anew with peace on earth and good will to all Thy children. Then will all nations be more willing to use their efforts for the benefit of all mankind. |
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁתִּשְׁרֶה שְׁכִינָה
בְּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיכֶם (מדרש תנחומא, פקודי י״א.ט׳) |
“Yehi ratson shetishreh shekhinah
b’masei yedeikhem”[2] lit. “May it be Their will that the Shekhinah will rest within the labors of your hands” (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 11.9, et al): May Thy divine spirit rest upon the hearts of all the Members of this House, and may the dews of heaven and the fatness of the earth cover the land of our blessed country. Amen. |
This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fourth month of the second session of the 89th US Congress in the Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 112, part 7 (27 April 1966), page 9016.
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
Featured Image:
Title: Flag_of_the_United_States_Senate.svg
Caption: Flag of the United States Senate