30 | JANUARY 28 • 2021

D

oes it seem strange
that meetings of the
Senate and the House
of Representatives begin with
an invocation delivered by an
ordained clergy person? After
all, the First Amendment to
the Constitution states that
“Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of
religion.
”
That wording appears to set
up a “wall between church and
state.
” Requiring a prayer before
Congress looks like establishing
religion. How is that kosher?
The answer is a long story.
On Sept. 7, 1774, the
Continental Congress began its
deliberations in Philadelphia
with a prayer by a local clergy-
man, the Rev. Jacob Duche of
Christ Church. In the summer
of 1776, the delegates appointed
him chaplain to Congress.
At the Constitutional
Convention of 1787, Benjamin
Franklin proposed that each
session start with a “prayer for
heavenly help.
” Franklin himself
usually took a benevolently
skeptical stance toward reli-
gions of all varieties. This time,
he thought we needed prayer.
Perhaps he felt too worried
about the possible failure of the
convention.
The Constitution that
came out of that convention
gave the Senate and House
of Representatives the power
to “chuse” their officers. The
newly constituted legislatures
each promptly appointed a
chaplain in April and, in May
1789, Congress authorized pay-
ing the chaplains in September.
The Bill of Rights did not go
into effect until Dec. 15, 1791.
Chaplains came before the First
Amendment.
The originalist question,
“What did the Founding

Fathers intend by adopting the
First Amendment?” has a clear
answer: The men who ratified
the Bill of Rights approved
of chaplains praying for the
legislatures. However, James
Madison, who wrote the Bill of
Rights, called the office of chap-
lain “a violation of equal rights,
as well as of Constitutional
principles.
” Ask the original-
ist question about the writer,
rather than the ratifiers, and
Madison intended to have no
chaplain.
In the late 1850s, Congress
tried to do without a paid
chaplain; instead, any local
clergyman could volunteer as
guest chaplain. When it proved
too hard to get volunteers,
Congress went back to pay-
ing official chaplains, but the
option of having a guest chap-
lain remained.

FIRST RABBI
In 1860, Rabbi Morris Raphall
of B’nai Jeshurun in New York
delivered the opening prayer in
the House, the first non-Chris-
tian guest chaplain. A Union
supporter, Rabbi Raphall later
delivered a sermon on slavery
in the biblical tradition; the ser-
mon was a big hit in the South.
Rabbi Raphall’s son served as
an officer in the Union Army,
even after losing his right arm
at Gettysburg.

During the Civil War,
Jews petitioned to make
rabbis eligible to serve
as chaplains in the
Union Army. After all, a rabbi
had already served as guest
chaplain in the House. Rabbi
Arnold Fischel of Congregation
Shearith Israel in New York
petitioned President Abraham
Lincoln, who responded in
a letter: “I shall try to have
a new law broad enough to
cover what is desired by you on
behalf of the Israelites.
”
On July 17, 1862, Rabbi Jacob
Frankel became the first rabbi
to serve as a chaplain in the
Army of the United States.
As of February 2020, 441
rabbis have served as guest
chaplain in the Senate or the
House of Representatives.
In 2018, the total number
of opening prayers led by
rabbis reached 613. Howard
Mortman’s quirky book When
Rabbis Bless Congress records
the history of the institution of
guest chaplaincy, the names of
rabbis who served, brief biogra-
phies of some rabbis, excerpts
of the texts of some prayers
and acknowledgement of the
legislators who recommended
these rabbis. Mortman pro-
vides statistical analyses of the
appearance of rabbis before the
legislature.
Some guest chaplains of

interest to Detroit Jews: The
book briefly mentions Rabbi
Leon Fram, the founding rabbi
of Temple Israel who served
prominently in the Detroit rab-
binate for 62 years, and Rabbi
Morton Kanter, who offered an
opening prayer in the Senate in
1971 while a rabbi at Temple
Beth El.
Other rabbis mentioned in
the book have Detroit connec-
tions. Rabbi Gershon Avtzon,
founder and rosh yeshivah
of the Lubavitch Yeshiva of
Cincinnati, served as a guest
chaplain. Rabbi Avtzon’s father,
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Avtzon,
grew up in Michigan, one of
the 15 children of Rabbi Meir
and Mrs. Cheyena Bina Avtzon
who came to Detroit from the
Soviet Union in 1953.
Rabbi Abraham Shemtov and
his son, Rabbi Levi Shemtov of
Washington, D.C., both have
served as guest chaplain. Rabbi
Abraham Shemtov’s brother,
Rabbi Berel Shemtov, came to
Oak Park 60 years ago. He and
his family have held leadership
roles in the Detroit Jewish com-
munity ever since.

New book highlights rabbis
(including those from Metro Detroit)
who have blessed Congress.

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rabbis on
Capitol Hill

ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS

Union Army. After all, a rabbi

(including those from Metro Detroit)

You can purchase

a copy via Amazon.com.