Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Richard M.E. Marcovitz on 14 June 1984

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=56671

Date: 2024-06-08

Last Updated: 2025-03-08

Categories: 🇺🇸 Flag Day (June 14), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 98th 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 14 June 1984. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Richard M.E. Marcovitz, Congregation B’nai Israel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sponsor: Rep. James K. Coyne (R-PA)
Date of Prayer: 14 June 1984

Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, our guest Chaplain for today is Rabbi Richard M.E. Marcovitz of the Congregation B’nai Israel in Pittsburgh.

Rabbi Marcovitz is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in sociology and religious thought. He also graduated from Gratz College, the oldest Hebrew teacher training college in the United States. He is the recipient of an M.S. degree in education from Duquesne University and has attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

He is active in a wide variety of religious and secular affairs, Rabbi Marcovitz has served as chairman of the Tri-State Association of Conservative Rabbis. He is the immediate past chairman of the Rabbinic Fellowship of Greater Pittsburgh, and is a member of the Montefiore Hospital’s Committee for Protection of Human Subjects. His work on behalf of Israel bonds has earned him honors from the State of Israel. Concern for the rights of Soviet Jews has led him to work with the Pittsburgh Conference on Soviet Jewry, where he serves as vice chairman of the executive board.

Rabbi Marcovitz and his wife, Marilyn, are the parents of five children. I know I join my colleagues in expressing appreciation to Rabbi Marcovitz for leading us in prayer this morning and in welcoming him and his family to Washington.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	America is a miracle. The determination of human beings to live as free people. For two centuries this miracle has endured; 207 years ago today, the Stars and Stripes, our flag was accepted as the symbol of this land.
	In the language of our Biblical patriarchs, the word for “banner” and the word for “miracle”, “nays” are one and the same.
	May the miracle that is America, as symbolized by that star-emblazoned banner, ever serve as a beacon for all peoples who long for freedom.
	May this country be both blessed by God and be a blessing to the world as we strive for a blessed and eternal peace.

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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the sixth month of the second session of the 98th US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 130, part 12 (14 June 1984), page 16339.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 130, part 12 (14 June 1984), p. 16339

 

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Richard Marcovitz
  Bio: Richard Marcovitz is the former rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel, Pittsburg, PA (1976-1996) and of Emanuel Synagogue, Oklahoma City, OK (1996-2002). In 2002, he plead guilty to inappropriately touching two students, a teacher and an after-care worker at an Oklahoma City Jewish school after a judge ruled evidence about the same kind of behavior over the last 40 years could be heard at his jury trial.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/richard-marcovitz
• 
  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: Aharon N. Varady (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-transcription

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