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Date of Prayer: 27 March 2025
Sponsor: Rep. French Hill (R-AR)
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome today’s guest chaplain, my friend, Rabbi Pinchus Ciment.
Rabbi Ciment is the director of Chabad Lubavitch of Arkansas in Little Rock and is currently the longest serving rabbi in our State. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to Little Rock with his wife in 1992. Rabbi Ciment has lectured on matters in Judaism at several universities in Arkansas and has been a frequent author in the “Ask the Clergy” section of our statewide newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat–Gazette. He studied at the Rabbinical Seminary in Morristown, New Jersey, and the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York, receiving his rabbinical ordination in 1990. Rabbi Ciment is a devoted husband to Estie and a proud father of 10 children.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to Rabbi Ciment for delivering a beautiful opening prayer.
Mr. Speaker, I wish him, his family, and Chabad Lubavitch of Arkansas continued success in serving the central Arkansas community.
| Contribute a translation | Source (English) |
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Almighty God, I begin my prayer with an act of charitable kindness.[1] Here, Rabbi Ciment places a folded up piece of US currency into a pushke for tsedaqah. | |
Creator and master of His universe, After the biblical story of the great flood in which You spared Noaḥ and his family, You gave guidance and instructions through them to all of humanity. You taught how to lead a moral, ethical, and productive life in the form of seven guiding principles, also known as the Seven Noaḥide Laws.[2] Sanhedrin 56a; cf. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4 and Genesis Rabbah 34:8. Six items were commanded to Adam: concerning idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, illicit sexuality, theft, and laws…God added to Noah, the law of not eating from the flesh of a live animal.” (Maimonides, Laws of Kings 9:1). The impetus behind sharing the sheva mitsvot in the context of ḤaBaD Lubavitch originates with the following teaching of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson: “We must do everything possible to ensure that the seven Noahide laws are observed. If this can be accomplished through force or through other kinder and more peaceful means through explaining to non-Jews that they should accept God’s wishes [we should do so]…Anyone who is able to influence a non-Jew in any way to keep the seven commandments is obligated to do so, since that is what God commanded Moses our teacher,” (“Sheva Mitzvot Shel Benai Noach,” Hapardes 59:9 7-11, 5745). | |
These laws are found in the Bible in the Book of Genesis and its sacred commentaries and include:
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Almighty God, bless the Members of this august body, the United States House of Representatives, who convene to fulfill Your very guidance to establish such just laws. Bless them with health, clarity, wisdom, compassion, and good fellowship. | |
I beseech You, in the merit of the great leader and spiritual giant, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson,[3] Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, was known to adherents of the ḤaBaD-Lubavitch ḥassidic movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Ḥasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. of saintly and blessed memory, who came to these shores in 1941 and described this country as a nation of kindness, and who passionately shared the richness and importance of the said Seven Noaḥide Laws for all to embrace, to please grant that the vision of our Nation for a world imbued with peace and tranquility be the crowning achievements of this mighty and awesome Chamber in our days. And let us say, Amen. |
This prayer by Rabbi Pinchus Ciment was offered while serving as guest chaplain before the 119th Congress, 1st Session of the US House of Representatives on 27 March 2025. The prayer was published in the Congressional Record, v.171, n.56 (Wednesday, March 27, 2025), House, page H1305.
Recordings
Source(s)
Notes
| 1 | Here, Rabbi Ciment places a folded up piece of US currency into a pushke for tsedaqah. |
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| 2 | Sanhedrin 56a; cf. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4 and Genesis Rabbah 34:8. Six items were commanded to Adam: concerning idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, illicit sexuality, theft, and laws…God added to Noah, the law of not eating from the flesh of a live animal.” (Maimonides, Laws of Kings 9:1). The impetus behind sharing the sheva mitsvot in the context of ḤaBaD Lubavitch originates with the following teaching of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson: “We must do everything possible to ensure that the seven Noahide laws are observed. If this can be accomplished through force or through other kinder and more peaceful means through explaining to non-Jews that they should accept God’s wishes [we should do so]…Anyone who is able to influence a non-Jew in any way to keep the seven commandments is obligated to do so, since that is what God commanded Moses our teacher,” (“Sheva Mitzvot Shel Benai Noach,” Hapardes 59:9 7-11, 5745). |
| 3 | Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, was known to adherents of the ḤaBaD-Lubavitch ḥassidic movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Ḥasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. |
“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Pinchus Ciment on 27 March 2025” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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