Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt on 25 May 1988

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Stuart Weinblatt

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25 November 2022 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, United States of America

Tags:

20th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, 100th Congress

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, Washington Board of Rabbis, Potomac, Maryland
Date of Prayer: 25 May 1988
Sponsor: Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

Rep. Hoyer: Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to introduce to you, Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, of Temple Solel in Bowie, Maryland. A native of Baltimore, he graduated with high honors from the University of Maryland with a degree in history. I came to know Stu Weinblatt during his student days when he served for 3 years as director of State affairs for the University of Maryland student government. In that capacity, he was liaison to the State legislature, where I served as a member of the senate. Stu Weinblatt is no stranger to political activism or to Capitol Hill. In his high school days, he was named a William Randolph Hearst U.S. Senate scholar, entitling him to study for a week here in Washington. As a college student, he sponsored a registration drive which added 9,000 new voters to the rolls. He also served as an intern both to Baltimore Congressman Sam Friedel on the House Administration Committee and to Congressman Clarence Long. Following his graduation from the University of Maryland, Stu Weinblatt attended Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and studied for 1 year in Israel. Before coming to Bowie’s Temple Solel, he served 2 years at Miami’s Temple Betham. Since coming to Temple Solel in 1981, Rabbi Weinblatt has taken an increasingly active role in a wide variety of community affairs. Most notably, he now serves as the president of the Washington Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Weinblatt has participated in a number of demonstrations in the vicinity of the Soviet Embassy here in Washington on behalf of Soviet Jews. Earlier this year, he traveled to the Soviet Union where he met with Yuli Kosharovsky, who has been a refusenik for 17 years, longer than virtually anyone else still in the Soviet Union. Following his return from the Soviet Union, Rabbi Weinblatt has continued his work on behalf of Soviet Jews. These efforts include a protest he organized in March at the Soviet Embassy in behalf of Yuli Kosharovsky. While meeting with a large group of refuseniks in Moscow, Rabbi Weinblatt also met with several of our colleagues, including Tom Lantos. Following the rabbi’s moving comments at the end of that meeting, Congressman and Mrs. Lantos suggested that…. Rabbi Weinblatt should one day give the invocation here in the House.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	The prayer I humbly offer to You, dear G-d, on behalf of the leaders of this great Nation, and in this hallowed assembly is one of thanks.
	We thank You for the many blessings You have bestowed upon this land, and its people; for the noble goals of our Founding Fathers, and for living in a country with elected Representatives devoted to bringing those ideals and the promise of that vision into reality. For abundant resources and wealth, for unprecedented intellectual greatness and achievements, we are ever appreciative.
	In that spirit, we pray, for the ability to share the precious gifts of life and liberty, of freedom and equality.
	Help us to conserve and preserve our resources for the benefit of future generations.
	Help us to use our prosperity for the betterment of all.
	Help us to use the gifts of wisdom and the God-given talents of our people with prudence.
	Bless us with the strength and desire to strive to create Your kingdom here on Earth. In that context, we pray that the elected Representatives of our people in whom we have placed our sacred trust shall be guided by wisdom and compassion, by truth and justice.
	As the Psalmist recognized, “Truly Your majestic presence fills the whole Earth.”^[1] Cf. Psalms 33:5 or Psalms 119:64, but perhaps Rabbi Weinblatt was thinking of Isaiah 6:3 or Numbers 14:21. For as Jacob exclaimed, “How full of awe is this place. Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” (Genesis 2:16) Amen.

Source(s)

100th Congress, 2nd Session. C-SPAN.
Congressional Record, Vol. 134, Part 9 — Bound Edition, p. 12229.

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Cf. Psalms 33:5 or Psalms 119:64, but perhaps Rabbi Weinblatt was thinking of Isaiah 6:3 or Numbers 14:21.

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“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt on 25 May 1988” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

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.)

the Congressional Record of the United States of America

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)

Stuart Weinblatt

Stuart Weinblatt is an ordained rabbi and the President of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America. He is the senior rabbi of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland. He and his wife founded the Conservative synagogue in 1988 with only a handful of families. The congregation’s membership is now over 650 families. Rabbi Weinblatt also served as Director of Israel Policy and Advocacy for the Rabbinical Assembly starting in 2009 and was tapped by the Jewish National Fund to head up and organize their "Rabbis for Israel" affinity group.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17