For those of y'all who're of the Jewish persuasion, I have a question...

[camwyn]

Is there a particular prayer, or formula for a freeform prayer, that would be considered appropriate before the launch of a prototype rocket? I'm working on my original hard SF stuff, and one of the main characters is a largely non-practicing Jew who's about to launch a rocket that's his only real hope of getting a vital scholarship. Ira kind of sees it as a 'no atheists in foxholes' situation.

The launch isn't going to go as planned regardless, but he has no way of knowing that.

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

About the only one that a nonreligious Jew would know would be the Shehechiyanu, which is said on pretty much every major occasion and you can't avoid learning by osmosis.

http://www.cjrne.org/jewish_basics/traditions.php3?tid=5

[mephron]

There's always Grissom's Prayer, named after Virgil "Gus" Grissom:

"Dear Lord, please don't let me **** this up."

(Replace **** with your prefered descriptor for 'not do right'. mess, screw, et cetera.)

[camwyn]

'k, cool. Thanks.

[camwyn]

Ah, see, that's going to be his favourite after this launch. Right now he thinks he did everything right.

He's never going to assume that again as long as he lives.

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

On the other paw, if he's nonpracticing and active in rocketry, he could say a brief prayer to either Saint Joseph of Cupertino (Patron Saint of astronauts) or Saint Barbara (Patron Saint of explosives/ordnance users). Of the two, if he's building/designing the things rather than riding them, Saint Barbara is more likely.

-M

[quintus.livejournal.com]

Ah, Gus "Dear God keep him away from the microphone" Grissom, kept at the back during most NASA press conferences. :-) Other criteria aside, I think it was that wonderful Military Creole of his that kept him out of the first spaceshot.
Sorely missed.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm fairly sure that that was Alan Shepard who said that -- though Grissom probably could've used it given his bad luck.

[quintus.livejournal.com]

Poor sod, along with Chaffee and White. Sadly, had the USSR and USA not been at loggerheads, knowledge of the USSR's own pure O2 fire accident might have led to the safety rethink and avoided the Apollo pad fire.

That prayer may have been common to the Mercury astronauts, although I'd bet in Grissom's case, the optional word would have definitely been the F-word, possibly preceding several of the others as well.

[(Anonymous)]

a) it was Alan Shepard who said "please lord don't let me f*ck this up" before his launch
b) there are no Saints per se in Judaism
c) unlike what I've observed in Christianity, you don't generally ask for "things" in Jewish prayers... asking God to watch over X, yes; but praying for success, no...

just my... I guess 3 bits....
-Z

[(Anonymous)]

Well that, and also since the prayer dates back to the Mercury days, the thing with the Liberty Bell 7. At least the Molly Brown mission worked out for him.

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

b) there are no Saints per se in Judaism

But if he's active in rocketry, he's probably been exposed to Saint Barbara. Would he drop her a line? Depends on what degree of 'not practicing' he's at.

-M

[dhole.livejournal.com]

Thing is, in Judaism, while there are formats for personal request prayers, they're not the sort of thing that show up in the minimally observant or non-observant communities.

Shehechiyanu, which Dave mentioned, is, at least as my experience goes, more of a festive thing than a plaintive thing -- if the rocket had gone up properly, and come back down without incident, I could see him saying that afterward.

But, in the "no atheists in foxholes" situation, I'm not sure. I'd probably go with "Shma Yisroel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad" -- it translates to "Hear O Israel, God is our God, God is one." It's the statement of faith that you'll get people going through in times of "Oh shit I'm gonna die," which is closer to the atheists in foxholes thing.

It's probably worth noting that in conversation with more Orthodox people, the words "Adonai" and "Eloheinu" are not generally used in casual conversation -- they're Names of God, and the whole taking them in vain thing is taken seriously. Not that this applies in the story -- as you describe him, Ira isn't Orthodoxly inclined, and this isn't casual, at least as far as he's concerned. But it's something that you might want to be aware of when talking about the story. There are relatively few people who identify as Jewish who wouldn't recognize the phrase "Shma Yisroel", so that'd probably be sufficient.

[tundra-no-caps.livejournal.com]

More of a reply to several of the above posts:

Saints can be seen as Polytheism and smacks right against the first commandment with the "Thou shalt have no other God before me"(I'm working from memory, the only version of the OT I've read is in Hebrew). It's not something a non-practicing Jew would do, it's what a Jewish-born Atheist would do.

"Shehechiyanu" is usually said during Holidays, it basically says "Thank you for getting us here", as mentioned above it is said after everything turns out alright.

"Shma Israel" is known basically to each and every Jewish male, seeing as you go to the Synagogue for every morning the month before your Bar Mitzvah and it's one of the things you have to say, same for when a first-relation relative dies.

Elohim is used in referance to God but can be used in common conversations, it's a "commoner" form so it could have been used instead of the Explicit Name(s), but by now it is perceived as holy as well and the religious people use the term "Elokim" unless praying. Adonai on the other hand is used only as a replacement for the Explicit Name(YHVH/YY/YH/YV) and Jews don't just drop it, they know what it means - and if he knows even the basics, the basics needed for "Shma Israel" - then he'll know this.

No idea what he'd say, he can just pray without any special target. Praying in Judaism aren't really goal-oriented and do not try to affect the outcome like the old Meso-Babylonian religion by way of Contagion. They're there as thanks for what was given.

[tundra-no-caps.livejournal.com]

""Shma Israel" is known basically to each and every Jewish male"

Assuming you do that little, at least...

And I've meant Sympathy, not Contagion.

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

"Shma Israel" is known basically to each and every Jewish male, seeing as you go to the Synagogue for every morning the month before your Bar Mitzvah and it's one of the things you have to say, same for when a first-relation relative dies.

The every morning for a month thing may vary by community custom. At my Orthodox junior high school everyone prayed at school every morning regardless of when their bar/bat mitzvah was, and the Conservative synagogue I worked at had no such requirement/expectation.

Kaddish is what's said when a first-relation relative dies. But Shma would be noticeable then too 'cause that phrase is said out loud together.

[tundra-no-caps.livejournal.com]

It is said every morning, and I hear it on the radio if I wake early enough, it's just that for those who are not religious(at least here in the non-religious Jewish community I live in), they usually only go to the Synagogue during the morning before the Bar Mitzvah or the month after a first-blood relative dies.

While I'm aware of Kadish, I was referring to points where a non-religious Jew may go to the Synagogue in the morning.

BTW, when I say non-religious it's still mostly the Orthodox way and not conservative/reformist who don't have much of a presence in my community.

got it now

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

...I hear it on the radio if I wake early enough...

*blink* Okay, I just looked up where you are geographically and now your comments make more sense to me... Which leads to the question for Camwyn: what kind of Jewish family/community setting is Ira from?

[camwyn]

He's not that nonpracticing. That's going clear into someone else's religion for help. While I would be whistling for Cupertino in such a situation- I was born and raised Roman Catholic, so I'm up on my saints- Ira's family is mostly Reform, with a few Conservatives scattered here and there (mostly on his father's side). His one really stable male influence within the family is Uncle Yehuda, who takes his religion seriously and would not have let the boy go drifting that far.

[camwyn]

It's the statement of faith that you'll get people going through in times of "Oh shit I'm gonna die," which is closer to the atheists in foxholes thing.

Yeah, that's about what I figured. Much appreciated.

Re: got it now

[camwyn]

Ira lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Most of his family is Reform; some of his relatives are Conservative. Uncle Yehuda is the most religious in the family and is, as someone else put it in his response, 'Orthodoxly inclined'. He's also the biggest positive male influence in Ira's life, with the possible exception of his friend Kenny's father. If Ira were a Catholic, he'd be the sort who would go to church at Christmas and Easter and maybe Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday, and he'd have had his First Communion and been confirmed, but that would be about it. Unless his uncle had been talking to him, at which point he would make a few more efforts to keep up with his faith before falling back to old habits.

Kenny's family has no influence on anything religious so far as Ira's concerned. I don't know if the Aois go to church or if they're Buddhists or what.

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

Wasn't sure. It's amazing how many of St. Barbara's flock are active practitioners at work, regardless of what they are at home. On the other hand, explosives can to do that to a person. Demo has a nasty sense of humor.

-M

Re: got it now

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the most likely things for him to remember are Shehechiyanu, Shema, part of Kadish or maybe Kidush (esp if his family sang it on Friday evenings), or maybe something from his Bar Mitzvah (if he memorized the blessings or the part he had to read; I had large sections of my older brother's stuff memorized just from listening to him practice). Of these, Shema or Kadish are the most appropriate, although he'd probably associate Kadish with death and therefore want to avoid it in this context.