Orthodox Union Executive Vice President Rabbi Steven Weil delivered the Invocation at the opening of today’s session of the United States House of Representatives. He was invited to do so by Speaker of the House John Boehner, when the Speaker was a guest at Rabbi Weil’s Teaneck, NJ home at a NORPAC event this summer.
Speaker Boehner asked Rabbi Weil to deliver the Invocation during the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Rabbi Weil’s remarks were as follows:
“Master of the Universe, today we stand before You in this Hallowed Hall, grateful for the freedoms we have been granted here, grateful for the men and women in this room who you imbued with wisdom and blessed with the courage to make the difficult decisions that will impact the destiny of all of humanity.
Allow the members of Congress to be Your partners in making a more perfect world, and grant them the insight and the vision to always be mindful of the responsibilities they bear. We implore You to guide and strengthen them so that they can do what must be done to save the world from those who wish to perpetrate terrorism and evil.
Dear God, enable them to do what must be done to plant the seeds for a brighter and more prosperous economic future. Dear God, support them in providing our children with a strong education to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Thank you for giving us such wonderful shepherds and allowing us to be their cherished flock.”
The Invocation, as televised and recorded by C-SPAN, may be seen here.
Rabbi Weil declared, “I was pleased to be joined in Washington today by other OU national leaders. We met with senior White House officials and members of the Senate and House to discuss policy addressing the Iranian nuclear threat as well as key domestic policy issues — including measures to support our community’s shuls and schools.”
