Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Naḥum M. Ben-Natan on 25 March 1976

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=55022

Date: 2024-03-24

Last Updated: 2025-02-02

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

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., 94th 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 25 March 1976. . . .

Content:

Guest Chaplain: Rabbi Nahum M. Ben-Natan, Beth Jacob Congregation, Baltimore, Maryland
Sponsor: Rep. Paul Spyros Sarbanes (D-MD)
Date of Prayer: 25 March 1976

Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, it is a great personal honor for me today that the deeply moving and thoughtful opening prayer has just been offered by Rabbi Nahum M. Ben-Natan.

Rabbi Ben-Natan is presently the spiritual leader of the Beth Jacob Congregation in Baltimore having succeeded the late Rabbi Uri Miller. The Beth Jacob Congregation was founded in 1938 and in the relatively short span of 38 years has risen to a prominent position as one of the leading Orthodox synagogues in the United States.

Rabbi Ben-Natan came to Beth Jacob Congregation in 1972 after having served as rabbi of the Young Israel of Ottawa, Canada, Congregation. Previously, he held the position of chaplain of the Hudson River State Hospital, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and rabbi of the Knesseth Israel Congregation, Birmingham, Ala. His leadership and contributions to our community have been outstanding.

I would like to offer my thanks to Rabbi Ben-Natan for coming here today and providing us with words of inspiration as we again undertake to conduct the Nation’s business.

Mr. LONG of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in welcoming Rabbi Nahum Ben-Natan, who without question is one of the outstanding spiritual leaders of the Baltimore community. We have all benefited very greatly from his inspirational remarks and we wish him well in the years ahead.

I am very proud that he is a constituent of mine, and delighted that he and his congregation, Beth Jacob, have been honored by the House today in the rabbi’s selection to offer our opening prayer.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Heavenly Father, we, who have gathered in this historic Chamber, bearing the responsibilities imposed upon us by our constituents, to represent their wishes as we debate and discuss pending legislation affecting the welfare of our fellow citizens, turn to Thee in prayer for guidance, inspiration, and courage.
	Hear their prayer, O Lord, uplift them with Thy wisdom, instill within their hearts and minds the qualities of sensitivity to human need, compassion for the suffering of others, and appreciation of the historic and eternal principles of freedom, justice, and democracy upon which this great Nation was founded.
	May the light of Thy truth guide the deliberations and actions of this Congress, thereby enabling it to become a bastion of honesty, integrity, and moral authority for us and for all mankind. Amen.

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This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the third month of the first session of the 94th US Congress in the House of Representatives, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 122, part 7 (1976), page 7962.

Source(s)

Congressional Record, vol. 122, part 7 (25 March 1976), p. 7962

 

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Nahum Moshe Ben-Natan
  Bio: Rabbi Nahum Moshe Ben-Natan (1935-2001) was an Orthodox rabbi in the United States. His career began as chaplain of the Hudson River State Hospital (Poughkeepsie, New York), rabbi of the Knesseth Israel Congregation (Birmingham, Alabama), and Young Israel (Ottawa, Canada). He served Beth Jacob Congregation (Baltimore, Maryland) beginning in 1972. We know little more about Rabbi Ben-Natan. If you can add more details, please contact us.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/nahum-moshe-ben-natan
• 
  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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