He has given more congressional prayers than any rabbi, but the House chaplain’s pick of Washington Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff to write today’s House opening prayer to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 is a special honor for the retired Navy chaplain.
“This prayer is a personal milestone for me because it will be my 18th, a number that symbolizes life in Judaism,” he said in sharing his prayer with Secrets.
“After 9/11, we were united by enemy attacks, with a mixture of fear and anger. It may be naive, but I still pray we might unite today based on shared values and dreams. Certainly worth praying for,” he added.
Almighty God,
Twenty years ago today, an era ended:
Pre-9/11 world.
Twin Towers stood.
No deadly Pentagon attack.
No civilian airline passengers, crew had sacrificed their lives.
To protect the Capitol from attack.
Next day, our world forever changed.
High Holy Days now challenge Jews worldwide:
Assess, atone, improve.
But regardless of religion,
Americans now share holy days,
Blessed by memories of the righteous
Who kept faith alive.
Terrorists did their worst.
We responded with our best:
Heroes sacrificed, rescued, healed,
Then we united to rebuild,
As we must unite today.
Where the Pentagon was struck,
We built a chapel — interfaith.
Our beliefs attacked,
We celebrated unity, diversity, hope.
Rabbi @ArnoldResnicoff was the U.S. House guest chaplain today.
It was the 18th time he opened a session of Congress in prayer (House & Senate — first was 2003) — most of any rabbi.
Here he is today with @SpeakerPelosi
(video of today’s prayer here: https://t.co/MwaN2iVGvw ) pic.twitter.com/0tPC3J58Sx— “When Rabbis Bless Congress” (@CongressRabbi) September 10, 2021
Day’s end,
Leaders gathered on Capitol steps,
Democrat, Republican, side-by-side.
Silent prayer,
Then “God Bless America,” they sang.
May unity then inspire us now,
Heeding America’s “Liberty Song:”
“Join hand in hand, brave Americans all,
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.”
And may we say “Amen.”
