When Rabbis Bless Congress

The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill

Howard Mortman (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

344 Seiten

2020
Academic Studies Press (Verlag)
978-1-64469-344-5 (ISBN)

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Congress opens each session with a prayer offered by a chaplain or guest chaplain. Among the guest chaplains: Rabbis. This book offers an unprecedented examination of 160 years of Jewish prayers delivered in the literal and figurative centre of American democracy.

Congress opens each session with a prayer offered by a chaplain or guest chaplain. Among the guest chaplains: Rabbis.

This book is about the rabbis. It's an unprecedented examination of 160 years of Jewish prayers delivered in the literal and figurative center of American democracy. With exhaustive research written in approachable prose, it uniquely tells the story of over 400 rabbis giving over 600 prayers since the Civil War days—who they are and what they say.

Few written works examine the tradition of prayers in government. This new angle will appeal to students and lovers of American history, Congress, American Jewish history, and religion. It's a welcome, important addition to our understanding of Congress and Jewish contribution to America.

Howard Mortman is communications director for C-SPAN, the public service providing television coverage of the U.S. Congress. A veteran of Washington, DC media organizations, he has observed Congress from positions at MSNBC, National Journal’s Hotline, Broadcasting Board of Governors, and New Media Strategies. He graduated from the University of Maryland and currently resides in McLean, VA.

Introduction

PART ONE: WHO THEY ARE
SECTION I: Setting the Scene: A Congress at Pray
1: The First Rabbi In Congress
2: Why Does Congress Have Chaplains?
3: Why does Congress Have Guest Chaplains?

SECTION II: Who Are These Rabbis?
4: Immigrants and "the New Canaan"
5: And Now, Latin America
6: Rabbis from Big States, Rabbis from Little States
7: Rabbis from Big Cities, Rabbis from Little Cities
8: Women Break the Glass Pulpit
9: Jewish Military Chaplains Are Congress Chaplains, Too
10: World War II Chaplains
11: Rabbis with Political Connections and Political Networks
12: Lubavitchers
13: Sephardic Influence
14: Clergymen as Congressmen?

SECTION III: Media Portrayal
15: Media Report the Earliest Rabbis
16: Local Media Report Rabbis
17: Rabbi Prayer Fact-Checking

PART TWO: WHAT THEY SAY

SECTION IV: Religious Awareness
18: Putting the Almighty in His Place
19: Isaiah, Isaiah, Isaiah
20: Stop the Rabbi If You've Heard this Before

SECTION V: Policy and Politics
21: The Bully Pulpit: Mixing Politics into Prayers
22: How Much Israel?
23: Econ 101
24: Space, A Rabbi's Final Frontier
25: Green Prayers: The Environment

SECTION VI: War, Evil, Terror
26: War!
27: The Holocaust
28: "Godless, Ruthless, and Unprincipled": Communism
29: War on Terror
30: Weapons and Soldiers

SECTION VII: Congress Institutions
31: Prayers Go Inside Congress
32: May Their Memories Be A Blessing/RIP: Rest In Prayer
33: The Congressional Prayer Room

SECTION VIII: America the Exceptional
34: An Irish Rabbi Walks Into the Senate Chamber
35: Praying for Iconic American Institutions

SECTION IX: Diversity: Including the Christians
36: Rabbis Borrow from Christians
37: Christians Borrow from Jews
38: Members of Congress Go Jewish
39: "Some of our Boys Died Last Night": Notable

Christian Prayers
40: Social Media Spreads the Word

Conclusion

Erscheinungsdatum	17.09.2020
Zusatzinfo	Illustrations
Verlagsort	Brighton
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 228 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Judentum
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
ISBN-10	1-64469-344-5 / 1644693445
ISBN-13	978-1-64469-344-5 / 9781644693445
Zustand	Neuware