[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1220] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IN RECOGNITION OF STEPHEN S. PEARCE _____ HON. JACKIE SPEIER of california in the house of representatives Friday, August 2, 2013 Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Stephen S. Pearce, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Senior Rabbi, who is retiring after serving Congregation Emanu-El for 20 years. Rabbi Pearce's inexhaustible empathy and commitment to others has touched and inspired thousands of people across this country. It is for good reason that Newsweek has recognized him as one of the 50 most influential rabbis in the U.S. on three successive occasions. One of the issues Dr. Pearce is determined to solve is hunger in the Bay Area. He recently received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the University of San Francisco for challenging the Emanu-El congregation and the community to address this pressing topic by reflecting on how faith is translated into action. Dr. Pearce took on hunger soon after he joined Emanu-El in July 1993. In September 1994, he initiated the High Holy Day food drive benefitting the San Francisco Food Bank. In April 1995, the Pe'ah Garden started raising vegetables for the Food Bank, Hamilton Family Center, Dream House and Raphael House. In February 2013, the Emanu-El Food Pantry on Geary Boulevard opened. In April 2004, he began a partnership with Dr. William Cobb elementary school to improve literacy and later expanded it to a food pantry. As you can see, once Dr. Pearce takes on an issue, his commitment is lasting. He also joined and won a drawn-out fight in 1997 to preserve one of the last remaining old-growth redwood groves in California. He organized an interfaith task force to help save the Headwaters Forest in Humboldt from chain saws. The effort won him the nick name ``Redwood Rabbi.'' Under Rabbi Pearce's long and distinguished leadership, congregation Emanu-El established a preschool and an adult education center, held fundraising concerts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and for the work of American Jewish World Service in Darfur, helped young adults transition out of foster care, participated in the Pride Parade, launched a pulpit exchange with the Muslim community, and was involved in countless other projects. Stephen Pearce was born in Manhattan in 1946 and grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated with a BA in Psychology from City College of New York in 1967 and was ordained at the New York School of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972. He earned his PhD in Counselor Psychology at St. John's University in 1978 and was awarded an honorary DD by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1997. Before Rabbi Pearce joined Congregation Emanu-El, he served at Temple Sinai of Stamford, Connecticut for 16 years and Temple Isaiah of Forest Hills, New York for five years. He was a faculty member at the Rabbinic School of the Hebrew Union College for 20 years and has also taught at the University of Connecticut, St. John's University and the University of San Francisco. He is a board member of Palo Alto University and an advisory board member of the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture. He formerly served on the board of the Graduate Theological Union and is a past president of the Northern California Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Pearce is a renowned lecturer and has written a tremendous number of articles and poems for publications such as the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Jewish Spectator. He is the author of Too Short and Sweetness of Honey, two children's books, a psychology textbook, and the coauthor of Building Wisdom's House. He is the former editor of the Journal of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, wrote a column for the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California and produced a weekly radio show for KUSF. His tireless engagement inside and outside his congregational duties has earned him universal admiration, utmost respect and many awards, including the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association's Silver Spur Award for interfaith community dialogue and engagement; the national Jefferson Award for inspiring worshippers to fight hunger; the San Francisco Food Bank Community Partner Award for inspiring member of Congregation Emanu-El to donate over 90,000 pounds of food in the last two decades; and the San Francisco Interfaith Council's recognition for encouraging green sustainability at the temple. Rabbi Pearce has been married to his wife Dr. Laurie Pearce for 36 years and they have two children, Sarah and Michael Pearce. Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor an exceptional human being, someone I admire greatly. His influence will forever be felt in San Francisco, the Bay Area and across the country. Rabbi Pearce has shaped his congregation and created a haven for collaborative worship, life-long education, social welfare and cultural offerings. He is retiring, but Rabbi Pearce is the type of leader who never truly retires. We wish him well in his next adventure in life. ____________________