[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 155 (Monday, October 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING RABBI CAROLE MEYERS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 15, 2007

  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, today I would like to take a moment to 
honor the memory of a good friend and a community leader, Rabbi Carole 
Meyers. Rabbi Meyers died at the age of 50 on Thursday, July 26, after 
a brief battle with bone cancer. She served as Rabbi of Temple Sinai in 
Glendale, CA, from 1986 to 2001.
  Over the 15 years Rabbi Meyers served at Glendale's Temple Sinai the 
congregation nearly doubled in size, boosting its education programs 
for both children and adults.
  Rabbi Meyers significantly raised the profile of the temple through 
her extensive work in the community. Rabbi Meyers was involved with 
Habitat for Humanity and the Glendale Community Foundation. She served 
on the Mayor's Task Force on Hate Crimes, helping to craft a citywide 
response plan to fight hate crimes. Rabbi Meyers also trained as a 
chaplain for the Glendale Police Department and helped to create an 
annual AIDS Awareness Prayer Service with other Glendale religious 
leaders.
  After retiring in 2001 to spend more time with her family, Rabbi 
Meyers remained active in our community serving on the board of the 
Central Conference of American Rabbis, developing curriculum for Hebrew 
Union College in Los Angeles, and presiding at marriages and bar and 
bat mitzvahs.
  In 2001, shortly after the tragic events of
9/11, Rabbi Meyers had the distinction of delivering the opening prayer 
in the House of Representatives. In such a sad and somber time Rabbi 
Meyers's prayer was uplifting and life-affirming. Her words helped 
console our nation. And her words that day still ring true today as we 
try to find answers to her untimely death.
  On this floor in November 2001, Rabbi Meyers prayed,

       It takes courage to pray meaningfully in the wake of events 
     shaping our lives.
       It is not that we do not turn to God, we do. We come with 
     our praise and with our entreaties, but we strain to hear an 
     answer, to sense God's presence radiating back to us, over 
     the abyss that grief and fear have created.
       Shall we this morning, just for a moment, stop speaking to 
     God, asking God, about God, entreating God, and instead make 
     an effort to find once again that experience of God's 
     presence that grounds our faith.
       Come with me to that place. Perhaps it was when you 
     witnessed the birth of your child, new life so precious and 
     pure, perhaps when you saw your soul reflected back at you in 
     the eyes of someone whose love was infinite. Perhaps in the 
     tangle of pain and darkness when somehow there was a presence 
     to call, to let you know you would move forward. Perhaps when 
     a piece of music shook you to your core, bringing an 
     exquisite awareness of the depth of human experience.
       Perhaps when you truly saw the miracle of nature 
     surrounding us, the sun rising and setting, day after day of 
     nature in its magnificent order, there was a moment when you 
     knew that an Other exists before whom we stand in awe and 
     whose greatness we strive to reflect in the actions of our 
     lives.
       Eternal God, be with us as we move through this time of 
     uncertainty. Help us know that we can lend Your presence and 
     use our lives to reflect it. Then we will have the faith to 
     bring light and joy, peace and comfort, justice and goodness 
     to this magnificent world God has created. Amen.

                          ____________________