Blessing at Mayor Wu’s Address

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Rabbi Marc Baker Offers Blessing at Mayor Wu’s State of the City Address

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Mar 19, 2025

Rabbi Marc Baker Offers Blessing at Mayor Wu’s State of the City Address

Rabbi Marc Baker delivers a Jewish prayer for civic leadership at Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the City Address, representing CJP’s 130 years in Boston.

Written by

Rabbi Marc Baker

President and CEO, CJP

We are honored that CJP’s President and CEO Rabbi Marc Baker had the opportunity to offer a blessing at Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the City Address on March 19, 2025, joining fellow faith leaders in opening the evening.

The State of the City is an important moment to reflect on our shared challenges and hopes for the future. We are grateful to Mayor Wu for including the voices of faith leaders in this civic gathering, reinforcing the power of community and connection in shaping our city.

Watch Rabbi Marc Baker’s remarks here above, and read the transcript below:

It’s an honor to be here tonight representing Combined Jewish Philanthropies, which has been part of the fabric of the City of Boston for 130 years.

Please join me in praying for the well-being of the Mayor and for all the elected officials here tonight and across the city with an adapted, traditional Jewish prayer for the government:

Our God and God of our ancestors, accept with mercy our prayers for this city, its mayor, and all its elected officials. Pour out your blessings on those who work faithfully for the public good. Enlighten them with the teachings and rules of your justice, so that peace, tranquility, happiness, and freedom will never depart from this city.

God bless these leaders, who have chosen to serve at an extraordinarily challenging time, that they may find meaning, purpose, and joy in their service, for which we are deeply grateful.

God, let us also remember that the sacred work of building and repairing our society is a collective responsibility – a partnership between we the people and the leaders we have elected to lead us.

God bless each of us, that we may be the people our leaders deserve; grant us patience and resilience to keep building a better future; give us moral and spiritual fortitude to fight for the values we hold dear and against those who seek to cause us harm, while protecting every person’s dignity and humanity.

God, let us recommit ourselves to all that unites us, let us reweave the ties that bind us; together, let us write the joyful, life-affirming story of our collective future. And let us say: Amen.

Rabbi Marc Baker

President and CEO, CJP

As President and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP), Marc leads the organization in its mission to inspire Jewish life and ignite positive change in Greater Boston, in Israel, and across the globe. He champions CJP’s efforts to build partnerships, develop resources, mobilize volunteers, and put innovative philanthropy into practice. Marc regularly writes, speaks, and teaches about leadership, community, and civic life, bringing the voice of Jewish tradition to contemporary issues. Marc graduated from Yale University in 1997 with a bachelor of arts in religious studies and received his master’s degree in Jewish education from The Hebrew University in 2002. Before coming to CJP, Marc served as head of school at Gann Academy in Waltham. Born in Lynnfield, Marc currently resides in Brookline with his wife, Jill, and they have four children.

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