Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Saul Israel Wisemon on 28 May 1970

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Date: 2024-05-19

Last Updated: 2024-06-01

Categories: Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, Memorial/Decoration Day (last Monday of May), United States of America

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 91st Congress, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 28 May 1970. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Saul Israel Wisemon, Temple Beth Israel, Waltham, Massachusetts
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 28 May 1967

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Heavenly Father, bless these men and all in rightful authority, who minister to the needs of this great Nation.
	God of the living and of the living dead, we call to mind our valiant sons and daughters who gave their last full measure of devotion. Ever mindful of their supreme sacrifice, help us finish our mutual task— bind up the Nation’s wounds, do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all mankind.
	Merciful Father, hasten the day when nations shall finally beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Let not nations continue to lift up sword against nations, nor let them learn war any more. (Micah 4:3, Isaiah 2:4)
	Bless us, as Thou alone canst bless with Thy most precious gift “shalom’’— peace.
	May He who ordains the harmony of the universe bring peace to us and all mankind.^[1] An adaptation of the closing prayer of the Ḳaddish and the conclusion of the Amidah, “Oseh shalom bimromav” Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the second session of the 91st US Congress in the Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 116, part 13 (28 May 1967), page 17354.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 116, part 13 (28 May 1970), p. 17354

Notes[+]

Notes
1	An adaptation of the closing prayer of the Ḳaddish and the conclusion of the Amidah, “Oseh shalom bimromav”

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Co-authors:

Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/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

Name: Saul Israel Wisemon
Bio: Rabbi Saul Israel Wisemon (1934-?) was a rabbi who served pulpits in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Unfortunately, we know very little about his life and career besides his arrest in 1983. “Police said a warehouse rented by a rabbi contained more than 10,000 allegedly stolen religious books and microfilms that had disappeared from schools, libraries and synagogues throughout the Northeast,” the Associated Press reported from Vineland, New Jersey on May 5, 1983. “The discovery was made in an investigation of Rabbi Saul Wisemon. . . . Authorities want to question Wisemon about the disappearance of a Torah—a valuable hand-written scroll of Jewish law—from a Bridgeton temple.” (as quoted by Howard Mortman in When Rabbis Bless Congress: The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill (2021), p. 253.) If you know more about the life and career of Rabbi Wisemon and would like to add to this short bio, please contact us.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/saul-israel-wisemon

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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Title: Flag_of_the_United_States_Senate.svg
Caption: Flag of the United States Senate