Sen Frank Lautenberg on Rabbi Daniel Cohen Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel South Orange NJ, July 31 1997

“When Rabbis Bless Congress: The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill" ... buy the new book here:

Video of Rabbi Daniel Cohen prayer here

I thank all of you here. I thank our Chaplain, Dr. Ogilvie, and I thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to present my rabbi. Youthful though he is, he is wise. I think the Presiding Officer knows one does not have to have age to have wisdom. And we credit Rabbi Daniel Cohen with having wisdom. This is an honor that I so much wanted to have bestowed upon him because he has earned the respect and the admiration of so many in our congregation. I think about 800 families worship and have their children taught by Rabbi Cohen. He is a native of New Jersey, as I am. And it is just an honor to have him and Mrs. Cohen, who is witnessing this from the balcony, join us this morning. Thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to hear from Rabbi Cohen. I am pleased and proud to have Rabbi Daniel Cohen from my own Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ here today to convene this session of the Senate. The fact that Rabbi Cohen is here to give this invocation means a great deal to me. It speaks to the diversity of religions and races that make up this body, and this great Nation. As Rabbi Cohen said, we are all privileged to live in this country. And it benefits us to work together and to use our individual talents to make this place as great as it can possibly be. I couldn't agree more. Rabbi Cohen and I have similar family backgrounds and share many values. He and I are respectively the grandson and son of immigrants. We have gotten to where we are today by taking advantage of the opportunities that were given to us, and we are both committed to giving back to the communities that treated us so well. We both believe in the right and ability of all people to be accepted and get ahead. It is symbolic that the name of our synagogue, ``Sharey Tefilo,'' means the ``Gates of Prayer.'' These gates of prayer to me represent open gates through which people of all faiths and backgrounds should be able to pass in order to succeed, find refuge from persecution, or simply start a better life. I want to add some quick words about Rabbi Cohen himself: He grew up in Berkeley Heights, NJ. He did his undergraduate work at Duke University, getting his degree in anthropology and religion. Some of that time he spent abroad studying in Israel. He went on to receive his masters in Hebrew letters from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and received his rabbinic ordination in 1993. He has been with my temple in New Jersey since his ordination, first as a rabbinic intern and then as the assistant rabbi. He currently serves as the associate rabbi of our congregation, enjoying a great deal of respect from members of the temple. He does a great deal of work in our synagogue with youth groups and educational programming, but has an exceptional ability to reach everybody in the congregation, both young and old. I want to thank Rabbi Cohen for coming today, and I am proud to have been able to share a bit of my heritage and home State with my colleagues in the Senate.