Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Dr. Sidney S. Tedesche on 26 March 1935
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55028
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication date_src_start: 1935-03-26 date_src_end: 1935-03-26 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"}] Date: 2024-03-24
Last Updated: 2025-04-11
Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies
Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., 74th Congress, English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. House of Representatives, תחינות teḥinot
Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 March 1935. . . .
Content:
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Sidney S. Tedesche, Ph.D., of the Union Temple of Brooklyn, New York
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 26 March 1935
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God of our fathers,
great Architect of the Universe,
who ordainest all Thy measures with a plan,
though Thy purposes are past our finding,
we pray that Thou mayest be with us this day.
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Thou didst say unto men,
in the early age of faith,
“Not by might and not by power,
but by My spirit.” (Zechariah 4:6)
Mayest Thou again bring home unto us
this truth from the revelations of history:
Not by numbers of armed set,
nor the material mass of men’s wealth,
but by the spirit of the Lord can nations prevail.
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Implant that spirit within us, our Father,
and give us an understanding of justice and equity
so that, consecrated to high endeavor,
we may be enabled to serve Thee
and to serve our fellow men in Thy name.
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May the words of our mouth
and the meditations of our heart
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.
Amen.
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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the third month of the first session of the 74th US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 79, part 4 (1935), page 4458.
Source(s)
Congressional Record, vol. 79, part 4 (26 March 1935), p. 4458
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Sidney Tedesche
Bio: Rabbi Dr. Sidney Tedesche (1890-1962), born in Elmwood Place (a town inside Cincinnati), Ohio, was a Reform movement rabbi in the United States. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, he was ordained at HUC in 1913. He served pulpits at Brith Sholom (Springfield, Illinois), Beth El (Providence, Rhode Island), Beth El (San Antonio, Texas), and Mishkan Israel (New Haven, Connecticut), before beginning at Union Temple in Brooklyn, New York in 1929. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale in 1928 and an LL.B. from St. John's University in 1938. He later received an honorary D.D. from HUC in 1954, the year he retired from serving Union Temple. He wrote, Jewish Champions of Religious Liberty (1926) and specialized in translating works of Jewish apocrypha, The Book of Wisdom (Thesis, 1913), Prayers of the Apocrypha and their importance in the study of Jewish liturgy (1916), A Critical Edition of I Esdras (Dissertation, 1929), Ⅰ Maccabees (1950), and Ⅱ Maccabees (1954). He spoke 14 languages. A leader in Brooklyn interfaith activities, he was a former trustee of the Brooklyn Public Library and former grand chaplain of the New York Masonic Lodge. He was also a former president of the Association of Reform Rabbis and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/sidney-tedesche
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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
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