Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Simcha Freedman on 18 October 1977

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Simcha Freedman and the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Shared on:

17 June 2024 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, United States of America

Tags:

58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, 95th Congress, 20th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Simcha Freedman, Temple Adath Yeshurun, North Miami Beach, Florida
Sponsor: Rep. Bill Lehman (D-FL)
Date of Prayer: 22 October 1985

Mr. LEHMAN. Mr. Speaker, Rabbi Simcha Freedman was born in Philadelphia, Pa. He graduated Yeshiva University. He was ordained by the Rabbi Isaac Hanen Theological Seminary in 1962 and received a master’s degree in Hebrew literature from the Bernard Revei graduate school that same year.
Rabbi Simcha Freedman has served congregations in Shenandoah, Pa., and Philadelphia. He is currently spiritual Jeader of Temple Adath Yeshurun in North Miami Beach, Fla. Rabbi Freedman is a past president of the Philadelphia branch of the Rabbinical Council of America, and is a past secretary of the board of rabbis of Greater Philadelphia.
He now serves as secretary of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami and serves on the City Advisory Council of the Planning Commission of North Miami Beach. He has contributed articles to various local and national publications.
Rabbi Freedman is married to the former Anna Becher Wasser and they have two children, Sammy and Benjy. During the years that I have known Rabbi Freedman personally and been acquainted with the extent of his community involvement, I have been impressed by not only his active commitments to Jewish causes but also his concern for the well-being of our entire religious and secular community. Rabbi Freedman is a great humanitarian as well as a true spiritual leader.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
לחיים	to Life
	Dear God, Scripture enjoins us “choose life.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
	This shall be a life of Independence, not an existence subject to isolation and coercion;
	A life of Security, not an existence in fear of terrorism;
	A life of Righteousness, not an existence at the mercy of international injustice;
	A life of Amity, not an existence menaced by war;
	A life of Earnestness, not an existence dependent upon questionable safeguards and promises;
	A life of Love, not an existence threatened by plots of extinction.
	Dear God, we pray You vouchsafe Your blessings upon the Members of this great House. May their continued support be granted the State of Israel and all democracies which cling to those self-same ideals upon which this Nation was founded and lives.
לחיים	to Life!
	Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the tenth month of the first session of the 95th US House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 123 part 26 (18 October 1977), page 34071.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 123, part 26 (18 October 1977), p. 34071

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Simcha Freedman on 18 October 1977” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

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 naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת 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.)

Simcha Freedman

Rabbi Simcha Freedman (1948-2018), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was an Orthodox rabbi in the United States. He received his semikhah from Yeshiva University and held pulpits in Philadelphia and South Florida, including many years at Adath Yeshurun in North Miami Beach. He served as President of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami, Florida Executive Director of Boys Town Jerusalem, and was an early leader of the South Florida Council for Soviet Jewry. His passionate activism, and most notably his vocal advocacy on behalf of Natan Sharansky, propelled him to the forefront of the effort to free Soviet Jewry.

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)

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Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Simcha Freedman on 22 October 1985

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi I. Usher Kirshblum on 8 February 1977

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Alex Pollack on 17 March 1977

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Chaim U. Lipschitz on 28 April 1977

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Israel Goldstein on 14 July 1977

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Chaplain Jonathan A. Panitz on 16 October 1991

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Leo Landman on 17 October 1967

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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