Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan on 12 March 2019

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=24206

Date: 2019-03-14

Last Updated: 2025-03-07

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

Tags: 116th 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 12 March 2019. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, Edinburg, Texas
Sponsor: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15)
Date of Prayer: 03/12/2019

Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my good friend, Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan.

Rabbi Kogan has devoted his life to being a spiritual leader in the Jewish faith and a leader in our community.

Rabbi Kogan is currently the director of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine’s new Institute for Bioethics and Social Justice. Since June 2018, Rabbi Kogan has led the School of Medicine’s efforts on ethical and social issues that affect south Texas and the Nation.

Rabbi Kogan is a physician and an ordained rabbi. He earned his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine and a master’s of bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rabbi Kogan has also spent time as a member of the Institutional Review Board at the Yale University School of Medicine.

Previously, he served as rabbi at Temple Emanuel in my district in McAllen, Texas, and continues to serve as a chaplain for various law enforcement agencies and hospital systems in the area.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to have Rabbi Kogan and his family join us here today in the people’s House.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	God, source of all living things, we ask Your blessings upon these representatives of the people who have devoted their lives to our welfare. Strengthen them with Your courage; inspire them as they answer the Prophet Isaiah’s call to feed the hungry[1] Isaiah 58:10.  and to clothe the naked,[2] Isaiah 58:7.  to lift up those in this land and in all lands who cannot stand on their own.
	Bless them with the capacity to hear and to listen. May this body, which hosts rigorous and robust debate, embrace diversity without division, unity without uniformity. May this House promote justice, moral clarity, ethical living, righteousness, and acts of kindness.
	As an immigrant who came to this country 20 years ago and became an American citizen just 7 years ago, I join this House in a prayer of profound gratitude and deep appreciation for the blessings we, the people of the United States of America, are privileged to enjoy.
אָמֵן׃	Amen.

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Source(s)

116th Congress, 1st Session. Congressional Record, Issue: Vol. 165, No. 44 — Daily Edition (March 12, 2019)

Link: https://chaplain.house.gov/chaplaincy/display_gc.html?id=2878

Notes

Notes

1	Isaiah 58:10.
2	Isaiah 58:7.

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: Claudio Kogan
  Bio: Claudio Kogan is rabbi of Temple Emanuel, McAllen, Texas. Born in Argentina, he graduated from the medical school of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina . He holds a Masters in Education from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and a Masters Degree in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, Medical School, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/claudio-kogan

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