Howard Mortman - When Rabbis Bless Congress: The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill

On the cover:

Top row, left to right: Bruce Lustig, Mara Nathan, Gary Zola, Laszlo Berkowitz

Second row, left to right: Arnold Resnicoff, Abraham De Sola, Harold Robinson, Levi Shemtov

Third row, left to right: Gil Steinlauf, Ellen Wolintz-Fields, Steven Rein, Amy Rader

Bottom row, left to right: Mark Getman, Hannah Spiro, Gershon Avtzon, Romi Cohn

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mortman, Howard, 1967- author.

Title: When rabbis bless Congress : the great American story of Jewish prayers on Capitol Hill / Howard Mortman.

Description: Boston : Cherry Orchard Books, October 2020.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020019048 (print) | LCCN 2020019049 (ebook) | ISBN 9781644693438 (hardback) | ISBN 9781644693445 (paperback) | ISBN 9781644693452 (adobe pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Legislative bodies--Chaplains' prayers. | United States. Congress--Chaplains. | Rabbis--United States. | Jews--United States--Politics and government. | Capitol Hill (Washington, D.C.)--Religious life and customs. | United States--Ethnic relations.

Classification: LCC BV280 .M77 2020 + (print) | LCC BV280 (ebook) | DDC 296.4/509753--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019048

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019049

Copyright 2020 Academic Studies Press. All rights reserved.

ISBN 9781644693438 (hardback); ISBN 9781644693445 (paperback);

ISBN 9781644693452 (adobe pdf); ISBN 9781644693469 (ePub)

Book design by Lapiz Digital Services. Cover design by Kate Connolly.

Published by Cherry Orchard Books, an imprint of Academic Studies Press

1577 Beacon Street

Brookline, MA 02446, USA

Contents

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the following benefactors, whose generous support helped make the publication of this book possible:

A. Mark Neuman

Mentor, teacher and friend of my family dating back 35 years. Mark had the honor of signing my ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) as a witness at my wedding in May 2001. No person has been a more valued career and life adviser to me over the past four decades.

The Soll Family Foundation

Bruce and Joy Soll have known me throughout my adult life. Bruce was one of my bosses in my first job. I am grateful for their friendship over many, many years.

Washington Hebrew Congregation

Washington Hebrew is the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in the nations capital, founded in 1852. Chartered by an act of Congress in 1856, Washington Hebrew is proud of the fact that every senior rabbi of the congregation has delivered an opening prayer before a session of congress since the first rabbi guest chaplain in 1860. As Washington Hebrews current senior rabbi Bruce Lustig reminds his congregation, we cant know where we are going unless we know from whence we came.

Deep gratitude for the cover art to Kate Connolly of Kate Connolly Studio. Her creativity and artistic interpretation of history brings this books vision to life.

An immeasurable number of thank yous to the many, many friends who fortified me with spiritual guidance and practical advice throughout this books journey. Great appreciation to my publisher for embracing the project from the beginning. And dedicated to my beautiful family and my brother and in honor of my parents, may their memories be a blessing.

Wherever My name is called upon in prayer there will I come and bless thee.

Rabbi Abram Simon of Washington Hebrew Congregation, citing Exodus 20:24, House of Representatives opening prayer, February 10, 1910

As I touched the Wailing Wall which is a living symbol of Jerusalem, so I touch this lectern as a symbol of the power with which Thou hast endowed this body.

Rabbi Mordechai Elefant, Israel Torah Research Institute, House of Representatives opening prayer,
December 12, 1974

Prayer points in two directions. It is a reaching outward and a searching inward at one and the same time. It is a questing and a questioning.

Rabbi Melvin Goldstine, Temple Aliyah, Woodland Hills, California, House of Representatives opening prayer,
October 24, 1979

The walls of this very Senate hall in which we invoke Your blessing is engraved in bold letters In God We Trust.

Rabbi Moshe Feller, Upper Midwest Merkos-Lubavitch House, St. Paul, Minnesota, Senate opening prayer,
June 11, 2013

When the Chaplain offers prayer at each days opening of this House he invokes upon its Members the benedictions of a Hebrew God and the intercessions of a Hebrew Savior.

Rep. Walter Chandler (R-NY), June 3, 1922

The Congressional Record is filled with prayers offered by Jewish rabbis.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL),
amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court,
July 9, 2013

Introduction

Need more prayer in your life?

Simple solution: Just turn on your television and watch Congress.

The unlikely congregation is the backdrop for a taxpayer-funded ritual dating back to our countrys creation. Every session of both legislative bodiesthe U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senateopens with a prayer. The Divine gets his due even before the flag gets a pledge.

This tradition might bother some. You may not like the idea of Congress incorporating religion into its official proceedings. You may not want the Congressional Record reading like a prayer book. You may seek policy debate on your TV or internet stream and instead get two minutes of unsolicited religious teachings. Or perhaps you think its all fine, nothing wrong, no problem with prayer in a public forum. Of all the things Congress does day in and day out, praying to the Almighty ranks among the least offensive. Either way, the fact is: Prayer happens. Its part of Congress, its past, present, and likely future. Just like floor debates and votes. And its a tradition upheld by the Supreme Court which, despite Moses the prophets prominence outside on its buildingdepicted on top, in front, in center on the East Pedimentinside does not open in prayer.

From the Founding Fathers to contemporary times, Congress prayers have fans in high places. Consider what Richard Nixon wrote during the Eisenhower days when he was vice president and president of the Senate: In the usual order of business of the United States Senate, Nixon wrote in a 1957 collection of prayers offered by the U.S. Senate chaplain, the invocation is often the best speech of the day. As a matter of fact, in the prayers of the Chaplain, rather than in the hectic day-to-day clashes of debate, we can see the greatness of America, because in the invocations the faith is expressed which brings us all together, whereas the debates often tear us apart.

The greatness of America , Nixon said. Congress embrace of religion from the beginning might strike some as ironic, perhaps counterintuitive, given a long history of scandal and sin. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) once jokingly called Washington, DC a city of Satan. He said it during a Senate session opened by chaplain Barry Black praying to Almighty God, the prince of peace. Indeed, amid its controversies, Congress carves out a prominent place for the Lord.

On January 13, 2012, the New York Times religion columnist profiled the House and Senate chaplains. At a time when Congress is stunningly unpopular, with approval ratings in various recent polls around 12 percent, Samuel Freedman wrote, Father [Patrick] Conroy and Dr. Black serve as pastors to what must be one of the most reviled congregations in the country (page A19).