Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Abraham Chill on 23 June 1965
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=56831
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Date: 2024-06-15
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, prayers of military chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot
Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 23 June 1965. . . .
Content:
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Abraham Chill, Congregation of Sons of Abraham, Providence, Rhode Island
Sponsor: Senator John O. Pastore (D-RI)
Date of Prayer: 23 June 1965
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Av Horaḥamim Shokhen Bamromin | God of mercy, who dwellest on high:
In Thy fatherly care do we place our faith and our trust.
Unto Thee our eyes are turned in humble supplication,
and unto Thee our hearts are grateful
for the abundance of blessings that Thou dost bestow
upon us citizens of this great democracy.
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Help us, O Heavenly Father,
never to become casual,
or to lose our sensibility,
consciousness,
and appreciation of Thy grace
in permitting us to live and toil
in a free and unshackled society.
No greater gift can man ask;
no greater gift can man receive.
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O gracious Father,
verily it was Thou who didst inspire man
and give him the superlative intellect
to solve the awesome mysteries in realms on high
and in the areas beyond the horizon.
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At the same time, we implore Thee
to stir and move us to search for answers
in the innermost recesses of our hearts,
so that we may ferret out
all vestiges of inhuman discriminations
and unspeakable cruelties that are untenable
in this advanced stage of civilization.
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Finally, we ask Thy blessings
upon the President
and the Vice President of these United States,
and upon our legislators.
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Concretize their aspirations
to eradicate poverty and disease
from this Nation of plenty.
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Crystallize their hopes
for a tolerant society.
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Answer their prayers
that accompany their efforts
to bring serenity, sobriety, and peace
to a confused and despairing world.
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All this we ask in Thy name,
O Thou who art above us.
Amen.
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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the first session of the 89th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 111, part 11 (23 June 1965), page 14538.
Source(s)
Congressional Record, vol. 111, part 11 (23 June 1965), p. 14538
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Abraham Chill
Bio: Rabbi Abraham Chill (March 30, 1912 – April 20, 2004), born in New York, was an Orthodox rabbi in the United States and the first rabbi at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He attended Yeshiva University and the City College of New York. In 1935, he received his rabbinic ordination from Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook in Jerusalem and from the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikvah, Israel. In 1941, immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Army. In 1945, after holding pre-war pulpits in Newburgh, New York, and Nashville, Tennessee, he became rabbi of Congregation Sons of Abraham in Providence, Rhode Island, a position he held until his retirement in 1969. In 1946, he was National Chaplain of the Jewish War Veterans of the US, as well as National Chaplain of the American Legion in 1948. He was an active member of the Rabbinical Council of America, serving as president of the North-Eastern Region, and later as national secretary of the Council. He was also a 32nd Degree Mason and a Shriner. Rabbi Chill authored The Mitzvot: The Commandments and Their Rationale (1974), The Minahagim: the customs and ceremonies of Judaism, their origins and rationale (1979), The Sidrot: Insights into the Weekly Torah Reading (1983), and Abarbanel on Pirke Avot (1991).
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Chill
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/abraham-chill
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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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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
