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Sponsor: Rep. Eugene Clay Shaw Jr. (R-FL)
Date of Prayer: 2006-09-14
Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased and I am most honored today to welcome Rabbi Amy Rader and her family here to Washington, DC.
Rabbi Rader is an excellent leader and role model for the Jewish community, and for people of all beliefs. I proudly nominated her to share her faith and offer her prayers for our country on the House floor this morning, and I thank her for coming.
After having studied in both Jerusalem and Los Angeles, Rabbi Rader was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City in 1999. Rabbi Rader also served as the rabbi for the Lakeland Hills Jewish Center in New Jersey, and was the first Jewish chaplain at Methodist Hospital in her hometown of Minneapolis.
Rabbi Rader is now an associate rabbi at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton, where she directs their mitsvah program. In her 4 years in the Boca Raton community, Rabbi Rader has earned a reputation as a compassionate pastoral counselor as well as an inspiring teacher and lecturer. I am honored to have her here with us today.
[Rabbi Rader was also honored with a tribute by Rep. Robert Ira Wexler (D-FL).]
| Contribute a translation | Source (English) |
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Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain: | |
When the theologian of my tradition, Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, marched in Selma, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rabbi Heschel said: “My feet were praying.”[1] Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel on March 21, 1965 after returning from participating in the Selma-to-Montgomery March: “For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.” | |
Esteemed men and women in this Chamber, I ask for God’s help to move our prayers from our lips to our feet. Our world is in desperate need of action, change, and presence. As the leaders of this sacred democracy, your feet in any one place can make the difference between life and death. | |
May it be God’s will that your feet lead our country on the path of compassion and justice. May your feet walk steadily to draw the estranged closer and the vulnerable into protection. May your feet stand firmly and united as the agents of freedom, equality, progress, and hope. | |
Master of the universe, inspire our deeds to be their own prayers. May our work join with God’s spirit to bring about a better day for all creation. Amen. |
Source(s)
109th Congress, 2nd Session
Issue: Vol. 152, No. 114 — Daily Edition (September 14, 2006)
link: https://chaplain.house.gov/archive/index.html?id=702
Notes
| 1 | Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel on March 21, 1965 after returning from participating in the Selma-to-Montgomery March: “For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.” |
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“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Amy Rader on 14 September 2006” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.
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