Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik on 12 May 1981

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55780

Date: 2024-05-06

Last Updated: 2024-06-01

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

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 97th Congress, 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 May 1981. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills, New Jersey
Sponsor: Rep. Joseph Minish (D-NJ)
Date of Prayer: 12 May 1981

Mr. MINISH. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to present our guest chaplain, Dr. Ely Emanuel Pilchik, now retiring after 34 years as rabbi of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ. This historic congregation, founded in Newark in 1848, has been led by a man of impressive character and achievements.

Rabbi Pilchik came to this country from his native Russia in 1920. He earned his A.B. at the University of Cincinnati, his M.A. in Hebrew literature and his doctor of divinity degree from the Hebrew Union College. He has advanced education by his work as professor of Jewish thought at Upsala College, as president of the Jewish Book Council of America, as father of the Hillel Foundation at the University of Maryland, and as a prolific author.

Ordained in 1939, Rabbi Pilchik served congregations in Maryland and Oklahoma prior to his long and happy tenure at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. He is immediate past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

This distinguished clergyman, scholar, and teacher served his country as a chaplain in the Naval Reserve during World War II. He served 10 years on the New Jersey State Scholarship Commission before becoming one of the first lay representatives on the Ethics Committee of the Essex County Bar Association, at the request of former New Jersey Chief Justice Hughes.

I am happy to count Rabbi Ely Pilchik as a loyal and esteemed friend. On this occasion of his retirement from his faithful service to Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, let me extend to him congratulations and warm good wishes. Allow me also to thank Rabbi Pilchik for his inspiring words here today. May God continue to bless him and the congregation he has served so well.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Creator of the universe, Father of humankind, Author of freedom: We thank Thee for this good sweet land, for this vigorous, promising Nation, for this dream of human dignity all but fulfilled.
	Humbly we pray Thee, bless us, Thy people’s servants, with will and way to reason together.
	Invest our words with meaning, our convictions with balance, our decisions with beneficence.
	Breathe Thy spirit into our counsels, O God, that from this House shall radiate a great light illuminating the lives of men and women the world over, implementing the nobility of our American dream. Amen.

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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the fifth month of the first session of the 97th US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 127, part 7 (12 May 1981), page 9266.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 127, part 7 (12 May 1981), p. 9266

 

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)
  Bio: 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.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady
• 
  Name: Ely Emanuel Pilchik
  Bio: Rabbi Ely Emanuel Pilchik (1913-2003) was an American Jewish Reform rabbi, Born in Baranowiz, Poland, he emigrated in 1920 to the United States. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 1935, he was ordained by HUC in 1939 and soon joined the faculty of the University of Maryland while serving as assistant rabbi at Har Sinai Temple in Baltimore until 1942. World War II interrupted his appointment as rabbi for Temple Israel in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he became a rabbi chaplain for the US Navy. After the war, he became rabbi of temple B'nai Jeshurun on Newark, New Jersey until 1981. Through the 1950s, he served on the Essex County Synagogue Council and the NJ Board of Rabbis, the Association of Reform Rabbis of New York, the executive board of CCAR, and as president of the Jewish Book Council of America. He served on the Board of Governors of HUC-JIR, and from 1977-1979, as president of CCAR. A scholar, he authored a number of books including Hillel (1951), Maimonides' Creed (1952), and Duties of the Heart (1953).
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/ely-emanuel-pilchik
• 
  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

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