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.

