Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Moshe Feller, the director, Upper Midwest Merkos Lubavitch House, St. Paul, Minnesota
Sponsor: Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Date of Prayer: 11 January 2022
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Almighty God, Master of the Universe,
the Members of this august body, the U.S. Senate, convene here today to fulfill one of the Seven Commandments which You issued to Noah and his family after the Great Flood: the commandment that all society be governed by just laws. As stated in the book of Genesis and its sacred commentaries,[1] Sanhedrin 56a; cf. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 9:4 and Genesis Rabbah 34:8. Six items were commanded to Adam: concerning idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, illicit sexuality, theft, and laws…God added to Noah, the law of not eating from the flesh of a live animal.” (Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 9:1). The impetus behind sharing the sheva mitsvot in the context of ḤaBaD Lubavitch originates with the following teaching of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson: “We must do everything possible to ensure that the seven Noahide laws are observed. If this can be accomplished through force or through other kinder and more peaceful means through explaining to non-Jews that they should accept God’s wishes [we should do so]…Anyone who is able to influence a non-Jew in any way to keep the seven commandments is obligated to do so, since that is what God commanded Moses our teacher,” (“Sheva Mitzvot Shel Benai Noach,” Hapardes 59:9 7-11, 5745). You issued at that time the following seven laws:
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Grant, Almighty God,
that the Members of the Senate constantly realize that by enacting just laws they are doing Your will. |
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Almighty God, I beseech You today
to bless the Senate and our entire Nation in the merit of two spiritual giants of our time and of our country, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson of saintly blessed memory– the sixth Lubavitch Rebbe– and his successor, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of saintly blessed memory. |
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Tomorrow, the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Shəvat,
is the anniversary of the transition of their leadership. It is a day of reflection and action and one which should energize us to be God-conscious beings. Their holy mission continues through our acts of goodness and kindness, hastening the harmonious era of the messianic redemption. Amen. |
Source(s)
117th Congress, 2nd Session. Congressional Record, Issue: Vol. 168, No. 7 — Daily Edition (January 11, 2022)
Notes
| 1 | Sanhedrin 56a; cf. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 9:4 and Genesis Rabbah 34:8. Six items were commanded to Adam: concerning idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, illicit sexuality, theft, and laws…God added to Noah, the law of not eating from the flesh of a live animal.” (Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 9:1). The impetus behind sharing the sheva mitsvot in the context of ḤaBaD Lubavitch originates with the following teaching of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson: “We must do everything possible to ensure that the seven Noahide laws are observed. If this can be accomplished through force or through other kinder and more peaceful means through explaining to non-Jews that they should accept God’s wishes [we should do so]…Anyone who is able to influence a non-Jew in any way to keep the seven commandments is obligated to do so, since that is what God commanded Moses our teacher,” (“Sheva Mitzvot Shel Benai Noach,” Hapardes 59:9 7-11, 5745). |
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