Rabbi Stephen Roth
Congregation Eitz Chaim
Passaic, NJ
Sponsor: Rep. Bill Pascrell, (D-NJ)
Date of Prayer: 05/29/2014
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my friend, Rabbi Stephen Roth, a resident of the Ninth Congressional District of New Jersey, for offering the opening prayer before the House of Representatives.
Rabbi Roth hails from Brooklyn, New York City, and was ordained in 1972 by the Brooklyn Rabbinical Seminary. For 20 years, he served as the founding rabbi of Congregation Eitz Chaim in Passaic, New Jersey, inspiring and guiding countless members of his congregation.
In addition to his work as a teacher, mentor, and counselor in his community, Rabbi Roth also served as the softball coach for the Torah Academy of Bergen County, as well as the Kushner Yeshiva High School. Rabbi Roth has, no doubt, served his community so well, thanks to the loving support of his wife of nearly 35 years, Fern, who is with us today, as well as his three children and 13 grandchildren.
So on behalf of the United States Congress and my constituents in New Jersey, I want to thank my friend Rabbi Roth for serving as guest chaplain in the House of Representatives today.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Our Father in Heaven, we ask that You bestow Your blessings on the Members of this House of Representatives so that their deliberations be just and with wisdom to benefit the people they represent. Guide them with Your kindness, and shower them with Your love.
This past week, we observed Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who gave their lives in defense of our great land and the freedoms that we enjoy. Let us remember that there are many people in the world that still do not enjoy these freedoms. We ask that these as yet oppressed people be granted the same freedoms we enjoy as a free nation, speedily in our time.
We pray for peace, not only for the citizens of this great land, but for peace among nations. May we soon see the day as prophesied by Isaiah: "No nation shall lift their swords against another, and may we learn of war no more."
Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory