Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Efry Spectre on 12 May 1983

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55783

Date: 2024-05-06

Last Updated: 2025-02-02

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

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 98th Congress, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 12 May 1983. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Efry Spectre, Adat Shalom Synagogue, Farmington Hills, Michigan
Sponsor: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
Date of Prayer: 12 May 1983

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Our God and God of our ancestors: As this august legislative body, the U.S. Senate, once more assembles we call to mind at this season Your giving of the Law thousands of years ago to the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai.
	Ever conscious that You have decreed us made in Your image,[1] Find Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 5:1-3. Including the animating principle, find Genesis 2:7.  and seeking anew some understanding for applying meaningfully that concept, we remind ourselves that, with all the possible attributions of glory and power which might invoke Your Name, You have chosen to identify Yourself in those Ten Commandments as “the Eternal your God Who brought You forth out of the land of Egypt, the House of Bondage.”[2] I am not sure why, but the Congressional Record here obscured “Eternal, your” and “the land of Egypt” by replacing the words with asterisks. I have reconstructed the verse based on its familiar translation, with an educated guess that Rabbi Spectre used “the Eternal” as a translation for the Tetragrammaton.  (Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6)
	O Lord, may these Senators, our great country’s leaders, in like manner find the fortitude within them to make this their touchstone— that the law issuing forth from these revered Chambers find its source and inspiration in the ideal of responsible freedom. May we be worthy, thereby, to walk with You in Your “ways of pleasantness” and know Your “paths of peace.” (Proverbs 3:17) Amen.

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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the first session of the 98th US Congress in the Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 129, part 9 (12 May 1983), page 12051.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 129, part 9 (12 May 1983), p. 12051

 

Notes

Notes

1	Find Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 5:1-3. Including the animating principle, find Genesis 2:7.
2	I am not sure why, but the Congressional Record here obscured “Eternal, your” and “the land of Egypt” by replacing the words with asterisks. I have reconstructed the verse based on its familiar translation, with an educated guess that Rabbi Spectre used “the Eternal” as a translation for the Tetragrammaton.

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Efry Spectre
  Bio: Rabbi Efry Spectre (1934-2010), born in Buffalo, New York, was a Conservative movement rabbi and playwright in the United States. He graduated Columbia University and was ordained at JTS in 1963. He served pulpits Har Zion Temple in Philadelphia before founding Nes Ami Penn Valley Congregation in 1971. In 1978, he came to Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/efry-spectre
• 
  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
• 
  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: Flag_of_the_United_States_Senate.svg
Caption: Flag of the United States Senate