The Jewish Rabbi Inside a Christian America Event #America #Faith #Politics

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Good afternoon, my fellow Americans.

[00:00:01]What a privilege it is to pray with all of you on this beautiful day. In 1893, a young Jewish boy in Russia watched as his village was burned in a pogrom.

[00:00:10]The flames destroying his home reflecting the fires of Jew hatred that fueled this evil assault. Flames he would never forget.

[00:00:20]Soon after, his family fled to the freedom of the United States.

[00:00:23]As he grew up in America, this young man, Irving Berlin, discovered a talent for singing and songwriting. While serving in the US Army in World War I, he composed a song expressing his gratitude to the country that had given him refuge.

[00:00:37]But he put the lyrics away and they remained unsung, unknown for 20 years.

[00:00:42]Then, in 1938, as fascism spread across Europe, Berlin resurrected his composition. It was sung live on the radio and quickly became one of the most beloved songs in American life.

[00:00:55]Eerily, as was later noted, that broadcast occurred the day after Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass when Jewish homes and synagogues were destroyed across Germany.

[00:01:05]At the very moment when darkness deepened abroad, America raised its voice united in the song that Irving Berlin wrote.

[00:01:11]That song was God Bless America. But God Bless America is not simply a song. Its opening lyrics tell us what it truly is.

[00:01:21]They read in part as follows, "Let us all be grateful for a land so fair as we raise our voices in a solemn prayer."

[00:01:29]God Bless America is a plaintive prayer to God that America continue to be blessed.

[00:01:36]To sing it is to echo the voice of King David, the sweet singer of Israel, who prayed, "Keep me as the apple of your eye. Protect me in the shadow of your wings." Or in the original Hebrew, "Shomreni ke'ishon bat ayin betzel kenafekha tastireni."

[00:01:55]In the years that followed 1938, the prayer that is God Bless America was carried by American soldiers who defeated evil, liberating Europe and the world. And it is a reminder, as hatred of Jews makes itself manifest again, that anti-Semitism is utterly un-American. The power and popularity of God Bless America reveals to us that America's passion for prayer and its love of liberty are always intertwined.

[00:02:21]From when Americans prayed on this day 250 years ago to World War II when General Patton's 250,000 troops asked of the Almighty that armed with thy power we may advance from victory to victory to September 11th, 2001 when Republicans and Democrats joined hands and sang God Bless America on the steps in one of the most poignant acts of prayer in American history.

[00:02:43]To sing this song is to be reminded that America's story is unique. May God bless all of you and may God continue to bless America, land that we love. Thank you very much.