Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Joshua Gruenberg on 13 November 2013

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=21567

Date: 2018-09-04

Last Updated: 2025-02-02

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

Tags: 113th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. House of Representatives, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 November 2013. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Joshua Gruenberg, Congregation Beth El, Yardley, PA
Sponsor: Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, (R-PA)
Date of Prayer: 11/13/2013

Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and introduce a good friend and community leader in my home district, Rabbi Joshua Gruenberg, and to thank him for offering today’s invocation.

Rabbi Gruenberg made the trip here to the Nation’s Capital with his wife, Elissa, and his two children, Kayla and Samuel. I am proud and pleased to welcome the rabbi and his family to the House of Representatives.

Rabbi Gruenberg is the chief spiritual leader at Temple Beth El in Yardley, Pennsylvania. Since he joined the temple in 2011, I have gotten to know the rabbi quite well. He has participated in several of my local roundtable discussions on issues, including Israel and the Middle East, and has come down to Washington to visit with me and to offer counsel.

Rabbi Gruenberg is a warm and welcoming Bucks County leader. He has helped build on a strong foundation at Temple Beth El that will last for decades to come.

I am proud of the work he has done in our community and am privileged to call him my friend.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Our God and God of our ancestors, Everlasting Spirit of the Universe, may it be Your will that the Members of this House faithfully represent all citizens of this great Nation. As they strive to govern this land, guide them, O Lord, with the pillars of humility and respect.
	Help them to live up to the legacy of those who have come before and to always honor those men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep this Nation strong and free.
	Remind all citizens of our great Nation to put people over politics, to elevate democracy over dogma, to value discussion over discord, and to cultivate compromise instead of conviction.
	Bless the Members of this hallowed body with the knowledge that what binds us together is stronger than what may pull us apart, that serving You is best accomplished by serving others.
	Dear God, please allow Your blessing of health and of peace to envelop our great Nation.
	Amen.

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Source(s)

113th Congress, 1st Session. Congressional Record, Issue: Vol. 159, No. 161 — Daily Edition (November 13, 2013)

Link: https://chaplain.house.gov/chaplaincy/display_gc.html?id=2024

Contributor: the Congressional Record of the United States of America

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: the Congressional Record of the United States of America
  Bio: 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)
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Record
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/united-states-congressional-record
• 
  Name: Joshua Gruenberg
  Bio: Joshua Gruenberg is the senior rabbi of Congregation Chizuk Amuno in Baltimore, MD. A native of New Rochelle, N.Y, he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York-Binghamton. He graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2002 and served as director of Judaic studies at the Schechter School of Long Island in New York. In 2004, he became the spiritual leader of Congregation Sons of Israel in Nyack, N.Y., and served there for seven years before coming to Congregation Beth El Yardley, Pennsylvania.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/joshua-gruenberg

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