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Sponsor: Rep. Dan Lungren (D-CA)
Date of Prayer: 19 March 1981
Mr. LUNGREN. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of the Long Beach, California, area, I would like to welcome a friend of mine to Washington and to these Chambers today. Dr. Sidney Guthman has long been one of the most active and concerned community leaders and I want to thank him for leading us in the invocation this morning.
In fact, there is probably no greater measure of his concern than the fact that he would interrupt his transit from sun-drenched Israel to balmy southern California in order to come to cold Washington, D.C., to take care of his business here.
In the course of my civic involvement in southern California, I have repeatedly crossed paths with Rabbi Guthman—he has been a veritable dynamo of personal involvement in civic and local government activities back home—so it is highly appropriate that we should be graced with a man of his caliber this morning.
It is fair to say that Dr. Guthman is himself an institution in Long Beach. During the past 6 years as rabbi at Temple Shalom in Seal Beach, his 15 years of service as chaplain of the VA hospital in Long Beach, and his 20 years as rabbi at Temple Sinai in Long Beach he has demonstrated a level of civic involvement that is rare, to say the least.
He has for many years served as a director of the Long Beach Symphony Association and has worked for a full decade on the Long Beach Commission on Community Improvement.
Seldom have I met an individual of such energy and commitment, and I am pleased and honored that Dr. Guthman could be with us here today to deliver the invocation before the House.
Welcome to Washington, Rabbi Guthman, and do not be too disheartened by these cold, Canadian winds that are blowing through the city today.
| Contribute a translation | Source (English) |
|---|---|
Lord of the Universe, Author of Liberty, to Thee we pray. | |
Let there be for bigotry no sanction, for intolerance no assistance.[1] Cf. George Washington’s “Letter to the Jews of Newport,” August 17th, 1790. | |
For Thy bountiful blessings upon this land, we are indeed grateful beyond words. | |
We now humbly implore Thee to continue to favor us with Thy divine guidance. | |
Do Thou inspire our legislators to reaffirm the principles of the Founding Fathers and to embody them in wise laws. | |
We beseech Thee, O merciful Father, to bless our country. May it ever be opulent but generous, strong but just, firm but wise, a shining example for all mankind to emulate. | |
Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light. | |
Great God our King, may this be Thy will. Amen. |
This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the third month of the first session of the 97th US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 127, part 4 (1981), page 4803.
Source(s)
Congressional Record, vol. 127, part 4 (19 March 1981), p. 4803
Notes
| 1 | Cf. George Washington’s “Letter to the Jews of Newport,” August 17th, 1790. |
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“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Sidney S. Guthman on 19 March 1981” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.
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