Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 26 December 2019

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=28779

Date: 2019-12-26

Last Updated: 2024-06-01

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

Tags: 116th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Impeachment of Donald Trump, 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 December 2019. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, U.S. Navy Chaplain (Ret)., Washington D.C.
Date of Prayer: 2019-12-26

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Almighty God, we pray, reflect, meditate in different ways, and during these holy days — Christmas, Ḥanukkah, Kwanzaa, more — some sing different songs, reflecting the beauty, diversity, of communities, cultures, faiths that make our nation rich.
	Yet we Americans, we the people, share songs of unity beyond diversity. When we embrace our nation’s highest dreams, our lives become its songs.
	Of America, we sing: “O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years.”[1] Katharine Lee Bates, “America the Beautiful” (1895).  Of America, we sing: “O beautiful for heroes proved, in liberating strife Who more than self, their country love, And mercy more than life.”[2] Ibid.
	God bless our lives, our leaders, with a patriot dream of love of country, love of mercy, freedom, justice — over party, over self; to cooperate, sacrifice, even compromise for the “art of the possible,”[3] Prince Otto von Bismarck: “Die Politik ist die Lehre vom Möglichen.” In its oft quoted English translation: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable…the art of the next best.” This sentence was printed in the newspaper St. Petersburgische Zeitung, on August 11, 1867. Reprinted in Fürst Bismarck: neue Tischgespräche und Interviews, Vol. 1, p. 248, (1895). Thanks to shmoop.com for the source of this quote.  for the greater good.
	God bless America, we sing.[4] Cf. “God Bless America” for Armistice Day, by Irving Berlin (1918/1938).   Help us, we pray, forever make this nation worthy of that blessing and that song.
וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן׃	And let us say, Amen.

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Source(s)

116th Congress, 1st Session. Congressional Record, Issue: Vol. 165, No. 208 — Daily Edition (December 26, 2019)

Notes[+]

Notes

1	Katharine Lee Bates, “America the Beautiful” (1895).
2	Ibid.
3	Prince Otto von Bismarck: “Die Politik ist die Lehre vom Möglichen.” In its oft quoted English translation: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable…the art of the next best.” This sentence was printed in the newspaper St. Petersburgische Zeitung, on August 11, 1867. Reprinted in Fürst Bismarck: neue Tischgespräche und Interviews, Vol. 1, p. 248, (1895). Thanks to shmoop.com for the source of this quote.
4	Cf. “God Bless America” for Armistice Day, by Irving Berlin (1918/1938).

Contributor: the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Co-authors:

• 
  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: Arnold E. Resnicoff
  Bio: Arnold E. Resnicoff (born 1946) is a Conservative rabbi who began his career serving as a military officer and then as a military chaplain. He served in Vietnam and Europe before attending rabbinical school after which he was a U.S. Navy Chaplain for almost 25 years. After the Vietnam War, he promoted the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and delivered the closing prayer at its 1982 dedication. Rabbi Resnicoff was present at the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and the following year, President Ronald Reagan shared Rabbi Resnicoff's eyewitness account. After retiring from the military he became the National Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee and served as Special Assistant (for Values and Vision) to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, serving at the equivalent military rank of Brigadier General. Resnicoff holds several degrees, including an honorary doctorate. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, and the Chapel of Four Chaplains Hall of Heroes Gold Medallion.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Resnicoff
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/arnold-resnicoff

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