WASHINGTON – At the invitation of U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rabbi Michael Beals of Congregation Beth Shalom in Wilmington offered the Senate’s opening prayer on Thursday as Guest Chaplain. His prayer is below:
“Let us join together in prayer. Ribbonolam, Master of the Universe, we send our first prayer to the residents of Moore, Oklahoma. May be Your will that those who are missing be found alive and be cared for. Send comfort to those who have suffered loss, and with the help of those gathered here, send the resources required to rebuild. Eternal our God, You commanded us to care for the widow; the orphan; and you commanded us to care for — so appropriate today — the stranger in our midst. Thank you for giving our nation these esteemed United States Senators to help us as a nation fulfill the command to care for the most vulnerable in our midst. Into each of these honorable United States Senators, you have implanted Your divine spark. Help these senators, Your humble servants, find a way of working together for the common good. In doing so, may they best take their individual holy inner light and join them together, creating one unified shaft of light so strong that it will shine clear up to the firmament above. We pray this in your sacred and holy name, and let us all say, Amen.”
Senator Coons reflected on Rabbi Beals’ turn as Guest Chaplain in remarks on the Senate floor immediately after:
“Thank you Leader Reid, and thank you for the opportunity to briefly recognize and celebrate this morning’s Chaplain. Rabbi Michael Beals has served our community in Wilmington, Delaware, and our country admirably, and with a strength of faith and foundation that you heard in this morning’s prayer. He is joined by his wife, Elissa, a caring veterinarian, his daughter, Ariella, whose Bat Mitzvah was just celebrated, and his daughter, Shira, and many, many other family and friends. He has a wonderful and accomplished education, being ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, also having studied at the American University, the University of California – Berkley, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In addition to his remarkable education, he is someone who is profoundly grounded in the calling — in the challenge — of rebuilding. As you heard in his reflection — his prayer — this morning, he is someone who cares deeply for the widow; the orphan; the stranger, and is true to the Biblical calling of us to be witnesses to our communities wherever we might be found. I am grateful to the chance to add his voice to the many who have brought this Senate into session, year in, year out, over the centuries, and I’m grateful for his friendship and his leadership in my hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.”