https://opensiddur.org/?p=51843Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Irving Spielman on 12 September 19902023-06-24 19:51:32The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 12 September 1990.Textthe Open Siddur ProjectAharon N. Varady (transcription)Aharon N. Varady (transcription)Irving SpielmanUnited States Congressional Recordhttps://opensiddur.org/copyright-policy/Aharon N. Varady (transcription)https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Opening Prayers for Legislative BodiesUnited States of Americaתחינות teḥinot58th century A.M.English vernacular prayerU.S. House of RepresentativesPrayers of Guest Chaplains101st Congress20th century C.E.
Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Irving Spielman, Fort Lee Jewish Community Center, Fort Lee, New Jersey
Date of Prayer: 12 September 1990
Sponsor: Rep. Bob Torricelli (D-NJ)
Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Rabbi Irving Spielman, this morning’s guest chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rabbi Spielman is the spiritual leader of the Fort Lee Jewish Community Center in Fort Lee, NJ. For nearly a decade, he has given inspired leadership in Bergen County on a variety of religious and community issues.
Rabbi Spielman received the rabbinical degree at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. For over 30 years, he has served a number of important congregations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Rabbi Spielman, among his many community affiliations, is a member of the National Rabbinic Cabinet of the Israel bonds organization, and serves on the boards of the Jewish National Fund of New Jersey, the Bergen County Board of Rabbis, and the Rabbinical Assembly of New Jersey.
Mr. Speaker, I know that you and our colleagues join me in extending warm greetings to Rabbi Spielman, his wife Selma, and members of their family on this happy occasion.
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Eternal God, Ribon ha-Olam, Father of All;
with grateful hearts,
we turn to thee
to bless us with wisdom
to understand the true responsibilities of our tasks,
to give us the courage to pursue them,
and the health and the vigor
to persist in reaching our goals.
Bless, oh God,
the men and women of this House,
that we may be granted the peace for which we yearn.
May we be endowed
with harmony,
vision,
and strength of purpose,
so that we may better fulfill our obligations to You
and to our fellow men.
In moments of doubt,
renew our faith.
In days of adversity,
gird us with patience
and understanding.
Above all,
imbue into us oh God
with the wisdom to count our blessings.
May we always uphold the challenge
as is proclaimed in the book of Leviticus,
to “proclaim liberty throughout the land
unto all the inhabitants thereof.” (Leviticus 25:10)
Congressional Record v. 136, part 17 – 12 September 1990. p. 23952
“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Irving Spielman on 12 September 1990” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.
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 naqeniשְׁגִיאוֹת 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.)
Rabbi Irving Spielman, ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In the 1960s he was rabbi of Beth Hillel Synagogue in Bloomfield, Connecticut. In the 1980s and 1990s, he led the JCC of Fort Lee, New Jersey. Rabbi Spielman served on the boards of the Jewish National Fund of New Jersey, the Bergen County Board of Rabbis, and the Rabbinical Assembly of New Jersey, and as a as a member of the National Rabbinic Cabinet of Israel Bonds.
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)
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