Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 2 June 1959
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=57016
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication 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., 86th Congress, anti-corruption, English vernacular prayer, integrity, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot
Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 2 June 1959. . . .
Content:
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld, Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington, D.C.
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 2 June 1959
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Source (English) |
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O Thou who art the shield of our hopes,
the tower of strength of our souls,
the guide of our hands,
the vision of our courage,
and the love in our hearts;
Thou who art the source of the law of righteousness,
the disciplines of character that build
the foundations of a just humanity:
Strengthen Thou the skills of our mind
and the devotion of our hearts,
so that we shall be the revealers of Thy truth
and the instruments of Thy guidance
unto our fellow men.
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Lift up our hearts,
so that we shall never forget
that man lives not by bread alone
but by the integrities of our lives,
by the high standards of our skills,
by the truth of our conscience,
by the good will of our souls,
and by the will for the common good
beyond the line of duty.
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Stiffen Thou the sinews of our lives,
so that we shall guard the altars of our community
from the expediency that corrupts
and the apathy that kills,
from the treachery that takes in vain the name of freedom
and the apostasy that, would sell our heritage
for a mess of pottage,
from the partisanship that would make us the tools of slander
and reduce us to the self-righteousness
that would inflict cruelty against
those who differ with us
in the counsels of free men.
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Guide us in our deliberations
and guard us in our utterances,
so that winning the next election
will not take priority over our duty
as witnesses to the next generation,
as testimony of the gracious spirit of free men.
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Lead us so that from this gathering
there shall come new light into our age
and the vision of days of new blessing yet to be,
when the world shall be filled
with the knowledge of a righteous God,
even as the waters cover the seas.
Amen.
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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the first session of the 86th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 105 part 7 (2 June 1959), page 9508.
Source(s)
Congressional Record, vol. 105, part 7 (2 June 1959), p. 9508
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Norman Gerstenfeld
Bio: Norman Gerstenfeld (1904-1968), born in London, was a prominent Reform rabbi in the United States. He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Cincinnati and also held a degree from American University in Washington, D.C. From 1935, he was a Fellow in Jewish Philosophy at the HUC. He became an assistant rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation in 1935, a synagogue that had been in disarray and decline for several decades. Three years later he became senior rabbi of the congregation.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Gerstenfeld
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/norman-gerstenfeld
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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
