[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 17, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H4028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg, Beth Tfiloh Congregation, Baltimore, 
Maryland, offered the following prayer:
  I come from a tradition where Tuesdays are considered most 
propitious: weddings, moving to a new home, good things are to take 
place on Tuesday.
  It goes all the way back to the first week of creation, where we note 
that, unlike other days of that first week, on the second day, on 
Monday, the Bible does not tell us ``and God saw that it was good,'' 
while on the next day, the first Tuesday, two times it says, ``and God 
saw that it was good.''
  According to the Talmud, this is because on the second day of the 
week the waters were parted. That symbolizes the division. That is no 
good. On the first Tuesday, the third day of the week, the waters were 
brought together again, and that symbolizes unity, and that is doubly 
good.
  In this spirit, we pray: Almighty God, may a unity of purpose bring 
together all the esteemed Members of the United States House of 
Representatives. Let all its Members realize that we can disagree 
without being disagreeable, that we can walk shoulder to shoulder 
without seeing eye to eye on every subject.
  Together let us pray for the day which will witness the prophetic 
dream of a world in which none shall hurt, none shall destroy, for the 
Earth will be filled with the knowledge of Thee as the waters cover the 
sea.
  And let us say Amen.

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