Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Elie Spitz on 18 March 2004

Contributor(s): the Congressional Record of the United States of America and Elie Spitz

Shared on: 10 January 2020 under the Public Domain (17 U.S. Code §105 - Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works)

Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags: 108th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Operation Margarethe, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Elie Spitz, Congregation B’nai Israel, Tustin, California
Sponsor: Rep. Tom Lantos, (D-CA)
Date of Prayer: 03/18/2004

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
	Master of the Universe, may You bless our great country and its leaders. May You give them, our congressional leaders, the wisdom to discern the path of righteousness.
	Scripture teaches: “Today, I place before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life.”^[1] Deuteronomy 30:19.
	Sixty years ago this day, the Germans invaded greater Hungary to oust the government and begin deportations of hundreds of thousands of Jews and others.^[2] Operation Margarethe. Many of those who survived have modeled an affirmation of life and a passion for justice in the shadow of tragic loss.
	May You, the Almighty, guide our congressional leaders toward affirming life and pursuing justice in all that they do. May they find Your light despite shadow.
	Infuse their acts with strength and courage, memory and wise purpose, open hearts and outstretched hands.
אָמֵן׃	Amen.

Source(s)

108th Congress, 2nd Session
Issue: Vol. 150, No. 35 — Daily Edition (March 18, 2004)

link: https://chaplain.house.gov/chaplaincy/display_gc.html?id=780

Click to access CREC-2004-03-18-pt1-PgH1231.pdf

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Deuteronomy 30:19.
2	Operation Margarethe.

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“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Elie Spitz on 18 March 2004” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

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)

Elie Spitz

Rabbi Spitz serves Congregation B'nai Israel, Tustin, California. He served as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee of Law and Standards (1994-2004; 2008-2016) and as a Global Justice Fellow for the American Jewish World Service (2016-2017). A graduate of The Jewish Theological Seminary and Boston University School of Law, Rabbi Spitz is the author of three books and many articles dealing with spirituality and Jewish law. He has taught the philosophy of Jewish law at the American Jewish University and taught at the Wilkinson College, Religious Studies Department at Chapman University.

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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