Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Stanley Rabinowitz on 23 April 1969

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55601

Date: 2024-04-23

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

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

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 91st 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 23 April 1969. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Stanley Rabinowitz, Adas Israel Synagogue, Washington, D.C.
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 23 April 1969

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Our God and God of our fathers: We are grateful for those whose lives are consecrated to the service of man.
	May we be blessed in our deliberations so that where there is ignorance and superstition, there may be knowledge and enlightenment;
	Where there is prejudice and hatred, there may be tolerance and love;
	Where there is fear and suspicion, there may be confidence and trust;
	Where there is tyranny and oppression, there may be freedom and justice;
	Where there is illness, hunger and poverty, there may be healing, sustenance and bounty;
	Where there is strife and discord, there may be harmony and tranquillity. Amen.

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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fourth month of the first session of the 91st US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 115, part 8 (23 April 1969), page 10039.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 115, part 8 (23 April 1969), p. 10039

 

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Stanley Rabinowitz
  Bio: Rabbi Stanley Rabinowitz (1917–2012), born in Duluth, Minnesota, was a prominent Conservative movement rabbi in the United States. After graduating from the State University of Iowa in 1939 he was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in1943. He began as a rabbinic chaplain serving in the Armed Forces, and later as director of the Midwest office of the Jewish Theological Seminary, director of field services for the United Synagogue of America, and as as acting director of the United Synagogue. In 1947 Rabinowitz assumed the pulpit of B'nai Jacob Congregation in New Haven, Connecticut, where he served for five years, and then moved to Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Minneapolis (1953–60) before coming to Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC, where he served for 26 years. A champion of women's rights in Conservative Judaism, he initiated the bat mitzvah ceremony at his three congregations and counted women in the minyan at Adas Israel well before it was sanctioned by the Rabbinical Assembly. He was instrumental in pushing for the desegregation of Washington, DC, encouraging building owners in his congregation to desegregate their facilities. He allowed and encouraged Adas Israel to hold multiple services on Shabbat morning including a Ḥavurah service and an Orthodox minyan. Adas Israel also did not follow the lead of many other inner city synagogues that moved to the suburbs following the 1968 riots. He chaired the Committee on Synagogue Standards for the Rabbinical Assembly; and was later vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly in 1974–76 and then president in 1976–78. He represented the Conservative movement in its confrontations with Prime Minister Menaḥem Begin over an amendment to the Law of Return regarding non-Orthodox conversions. He also traveled to Egypt soon after Anwar Sadat's path-breaking trip to Jerusalem. He was the founding president of the Zionist Organization of the Conservative Movement (mercaz) (1977–1985) and chaired the Rabbinic Cabinet of United Jewish Appeal (1986).
  Website: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rabinowitz-stanley
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/stanley-rabinowitz
• 
  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

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