[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 67 (Monday, May 4, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5079-H5080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING RABBI CHARLES H. ROSENZVEIG

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 283) honoring the life, achievements, and 
contributions of Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 283

       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig, Holocaust survivor, 
     scholar, teacher, and founder of the Nation's first free-
     standing Holocaust Memorial Center, passed away on December 
     11, 2008, which corresponds to the 14th of Kislev, 5769 of 
     the Hebrew calendar, and was buried in Jerusalem, Israel;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig was beloved by friends, 
     family, and congregants and is survived by his wife Helen and 
     four children, Martin Rosenzveig, Rabbi Ely Rosenzveig, Judy 
     Rosenzveig, and Adina Novogrodsky, and ten grandchildren;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig was born on November 
     13, 1920, in Ostrovitz, Poland, to Yente and Eliezer Lippa 
     Rosenzveig;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig was educated in the 
     Jewish cheder and prestigious Bialystok Yeshiva, and studied 
     the laws of his faith concerning the importance of good deeds 
     and social justice, and developed exceptional knowledge of 
     the Talmud, the rabbinic interpretation of Jewish Law;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig endured and bore 
     witness to the horrific atrocities of the Holocaust, the 
     Shoah, and members of his immediate and extended family 
     perished at the hands of the Nazis;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig managed to escape his 
     Nazi persecutors, fled from Poland to the Soviet Union before 
     immigrating to the United States, settling at first in New 
     York City in 1947;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig attended the world-
     renowned Yeshiva University in Manhattan and was ordained in 
     1951 as a rabbi, leader, and teacher in the Jewish community;
       Whereas, upon receiving the rabbinic designation, Rabbi 
     Charles H. Rosenzveig led Congregation Mt. Sinai in Port 
     Huron, Michigan, where he served as spiritual leader until 
     1993, when he left the pulpit to devote his entire energy and 
     spirit to the Holocaust Memorial Center, a project he had 
     envisioned since his escape from Europe;
       Whereas the Holocaust Memorial Center, established in 1984 
     at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, Michigan, 
     became the Nation's first free-standing Holocaust Memorial 
     Center;
       Whereas the Holocaust Memorial Center is a monument to the 
     memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and an educational 
     institution with a mission to teach the lesson of tolerance 
     to future generations, welcoming millions of visitors from 
     around the world wishing to learn about the horrors of the 
     Holocaust in order to prevent such a tragedy from occurring 
     again;
       Whereas other Holocaust centers around the country have 
     been built, many modeled on Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig's 
     original Holocaust Memorial Center;
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig traveled and spoke 
     extensively to raise awareness and grow the Holocaust 
     Memorial Center, allowing the Holocaust Memorial Center to 
     move from its original home in West Bloomfield, Michigan, to 
     a large, state-of-the-art museum in Farmington Hills, 
     Michigan, that also houses the Museum of European Heritage 
     and the International Institute of the Righteous;
       Whereas it was Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig's vision for the 
     new center to enlighten future generations about the horrors 
     of the Holocaust and nourish a social consciousness whereby 
     the ``righteous acts of the few become the standard of the 
     many''; and
       Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig succeeded in providing 
     the tools necessary for the message of ``Never Again'' to be 
     understood by future generations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) mourns the passing of Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig and 
     pauses to remember the 6,000,000 Jews killed in the Holocaust 
     and the more than 11,000,000 people murdered in World War II; 
     and
       (2) honors the life and accomplishments of Rabbi Charles H. 
     Rosenzveig as a scholar, teacher, rabbi, and Founder and 
     Director of the Holocaust Memorial Center.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution 
and yield myself as much time as I may consume.

[[Page H5080]]

  I rise in support of H. Res. 283, a resolution offered by Mr. Peters 
of Michigan, honoring the life, achievements, and contributions of 
Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig. Although Rabbi Rosenzveig passed away last 
December, I think it is extremely and particularly appropriate that the 
House honor him now after having recently marked Holocaust Remembrance 
Day.
  While Rabbi Rosenzveig will always be remembered as a loving husband 
and father with a wife, Helen, and four children, one of whom followed 
in his father's footsteps into rabbinate and became a rabbi, many of us 
knew him as a path-breaking educator about the Holocaust and the 
founder of an important Holocaust museum and memorial.
  His life story of survival, escape and renewal serves as a model for 
all of us. Though he escaped the clutches of the Nazis who invaded his 
native Poland, Rabbi Rosenzveig lost much of his family in the 
Holocaust. After making his way east through the Soviet Union, he found 
refuge in the United States in 1947. After attending Yeshiva University 
in New York City, he became the spiritual leader of Congregation Mount 
Sinai in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1984, Rabbi Rosenzveig founded the 
Holocaust Memorial Center, a national freestanding memorial to the 
horrors of the Holocaust, in Farmington Hills, Michigan. In 1993, he 
left the pulpit to devote his energies full time to the center. The 
center serves not only as a memorial to those who perished at the hands 
of the Nazis but as a Jewish history museum and an educational 
institution dedicated to tolerance to future generations.
  While it is fitting that Rabbi Rosenzveig's memory and his many 
accomplishments be noted here today, the Nation's other Holocaust 
museums, many modeled after the center he founded in Farmington Hills, 
form perhaps the most enduring tribute to his achievements. We mourn 
the loss of Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig and pay our respects to his 
family and to those who knew him well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of H. Res. 283, honoring the life, 
achievements and contributions of Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig. Rabbi 
Rosenzveig was a Holocaust survivor, scholar, teacher and founder of 
the first freestanding Holocaust Memorial Center in the United States. 
Rabbi Rosenzveig passed away on December 11, 2008, but his lifelong 
efforts to keep alive the memory of the atrocities committed during the 
Holocaust and his commitment to teaching the lessons of tolerance to 
future generations will live on.
  After surviving the horrors of the Holocaust, he immigrated to the 
United States in 1947 where he was ordained as a rabbi, became a 
respected teacher in the Jewish community and spoke extensively to 
raise awareness about the Holocaust. Rabbi Rosenzveig made it his 
personal mission to teach new generations of the lessons of the 
Holocaust, and he led the efforts in establishing the Holocaust 
Memorial Center in West Bloomfield, Michigan, the first of its kind in 
the United States.
  The original Holocaust Memorial Center which Rabbi Rosenzveig helped 
establish in West Bloomfield, which was later moved to a large state-
of-the-art museum in Farmington Hills, served as a model for many other 
Holocaust centers later built throughout the United States.
  I would like to thank my colleague from Michigan, Congressman Peters, 
for introducing this measure which commemorates those who perished at 
the hands of the Nazi regime and honors the life and accomplishments of 
Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig as a scholar, teacher, rabbi, and founder and 
director of the Holocaust Memorial Center.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this important resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the sponsor of the resolution, the 
gentleman from Michigan, Representative Peters, as much time as he may 
consume.
  Mr. PETERS. I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for 
yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 283, a 
resolution that I authored to honor the life, achievements and 
contributions of Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig.
  The late Rabbi Rosenzveig, who passed away in December, was a 
scholar, teacher, Holocaust survivor, and a founder of the Nation's 
first freestanding Holocaust Memorial Center in Oakland County, 
Michigan, the county which I have lived my whole life and now have the 
honor to represent here in Congress.
  This resolution is important to the people of Michigan and has been 
sponsored in a thoroughly bipartisan fashion by Representatives Levin, 
Camp, Dingell, Ehlers, Hoekstra, Upton, Kildee, McCotter, Miller, 
Rogers, Stupak, and Schauer.
  I would like to commend and thank Chairman Berman, Ranking Member 
Ros-Lehtinen, and Vice Chairman Ackerman for their sponsorship of this 
resolution and their leadership in moving it through the House 
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
  Rabbi Rosenzveig lost his mother, father, brother and sister in the 
Holocaust before fleeing to Poland and then the Soviet Union before 
immigrating to New York City in 1947. He led his class at the 
prestigious Yeshiva University in Manhattan and was ordained in 1951 as 
a rabbi.
  He served his congregants at Congregation Mt. Sinai in Port Huron, 
Michigan, for decades before leaving the synagogue to devote his entire 
energy and spirit to the Holocaust Memorial Center of West Bloomfield, 
Michigan, which he founded in 1984.
  Rabbi Rosenzveig traveled and spoke extensively to raise the 
awareness of resources needed to grow the Holocaust Memorial Center, 
allowing the center to move from its original home in West Bloomfield 
to a large state-of-the-art museum in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that 
also houses the Museum of European Heritage and the International 
Institute of the Righteous.
  The Holocaust Memorial Center, which has educated millions of 
visitors, stands to enlighten future generations about the horrors of 
the Holocaust and nourish a social consciousness whereby, as Rabbi 
Rosenzveig used to say, the ``righteous acts of the few become the 
standard of the many.''
  Rabbi Rosenzveig was an extraordinary American who devoted his life 
to serving others. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet him, 
and I was taken by his wisdom, vision, sincerity, and deep sense of 
caring for all people.
  Please join me in paying tribute to a great teacher, scholar, leader, 
and the founder and director of the Holocaust Memorial Center. I am 
pleased that the House is considering this bipartisan resolution, and I 
urge my colleagues to support the passage of House Resolution 283.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. I ask my fellow Members to support this resolution 
commemorating Rabbi Rosenzveig. I also appreciate Chairman Payne and 
the staffs on both sides of the aisle for their hard work in bringing 
forth several measures today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend and express my 
appreciation to the gentleman from Arkansas who has worked very closely 
in a very bipartisan manner on many issues. It is a pleasure to work 
with him as we continue to move forward the needs of the people, not 
only of our country, but of the world.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 283.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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