Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Chaim U. Lipschitz on 16 June 1958

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Date: 2024-06-20

Last Updated: 2025-02-02

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

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 85th Congress, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 16 June 1958. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Chaim U. Lipschitz, D.D., Congregation Ohev Sholom, Brooklyn, New York
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 16 June 1958

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Our God, and God of our fathers, grant wisdom, understanding, and blessedness to the men commissioned to formulate the laws of this blessed country, the United States of America.
	Teach them what to say; instruct them how to speak; grant their petitions; and show them the way to glorify Thee.
	May they walk in the light of Thy favor, invoking Thy own blessings upon all Thy people.
	O grant a life of happiness, grace, and kindness.
	Bless us all alike, our Father; and with the light of Thy countenance lead us to a life of uprightness, mercy, and peace. Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the second session of the 85th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 104 part 9 (16 June 1958), page 11239.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 104, part 9 (16 June 1958), p. 11239

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

Name: Chaim Uri Lipschitz
Bio: Rabbi Chaim Uri Lipschitz (1912-2002), born in Jerusalem, was an Orthodox rabbi and author in the United States. He served as director of the yeshivah, Mesivta Talmudical Seminary (Brooklyn, New York). He wrote Discrimination in banking; a survey in depth (1970), ספר אורי חיים : על ענינים שונים (1980, 1982), Betrothed Forever (1980), Franco, Spain, the Jews, and the Holocaust (1984) and נס הצלה The Shanghai Connection (1987), a story of the rescue of the Mir Yeshiva during the Holocaust, אשכבתא דצדיקיא (1990), and with Neil Rosenstein, The Feast and the Fast: The Dramatic Personal Story of Yom Tov Lipman Heller (1984). We know very little else about Rabbi Lipschitz. If you can add additional details to this short bio, then please contact us.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/chaim-uri-lipschitz

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