[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING RABBI STEVEN KUSHNER ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM TEMPLE NER TAMID

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                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 26, 2018

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Rabbi Steven Kushner 
upon his retirement from serving as the spiritual leader of Temple Ner 
Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Since its inception in 1980 when two 
Bloomfield congregations--one reform and one conservative-merged, the 
Jewish community at Temple Ner Tamid has not just grown, but thrived, 
under Rabbi Kushner's tenure.
  Rabbi Kushner has been instrumental in the growth and expansion of 
the Ner Tamid congregation to hundreds of families serving three 
generations of members. In that time he has developed adult education, 
interfaith, social action, outreach, and family programming at the 
synagogue. Whether officiating at B'nai Mitzvah, confirmations, 
weddings, bris ceremonies, baby namings, or funerals, Rabbi Kushner has 
played an integral role in major life events of thousands of New Jersey 
families. His high-holiday sermons were always thought-provoking, and 
included the right dash of movie references or popular culture.
  By all accounts, Rabbi Kushner took his title very seriously. The 
word ``rabbi'' means Jewish teacher in Hebrew, and Rabbi Kushner is a 
tremendous educator. In fact, Rabbi Kushner helped prepare my Chief of 
Staff, Ben Rich, for his Bar Mitzvah almost three decades ago. And 
through leading his confirmation class trip to Washington, D.C., helped 
influence Ben's path toward what has been a long career working for the 
people of northern New Jersey on Capitol Hill.
  Rabbi Kushner is certainly a figure of respect in the Jewish 
community, and he has made his mark in the community at large as a 
distinguished and respected member of the clergy in Essex County and 
throughout New Jersey.
  Rabbi Kushner is past president of the New Jersey Association of 
Reform Rabbis, the Coalition of Religious Leaders of New Jersey, and 
the Metro West Conference on Soviet Jewry, and also served on the 
Ethics Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). 
Rabbi Kushner is a member of Reform Judaism's Commission on Worship, 
Music and Religious Living, and chairs the Beth El Memorial Park 
Foundation of the United Jewish Communities of Metro West. He is a 
Trustee of The Blue Card, a unique charity that provides emotional and 
monetary assistance to Holocaust survivors and their families.
  A native of Michigan and long suffering Lions fan, Rabbi Kushner 
received a Bachelor of Arts from Wayne State University in Detroit 
before earning a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union 
College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Kushner has also received 
Certification in Pastoral Counseling from the Postgraduate Center for 
Mental Health in New York City, and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity 
from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in March of 
2002.
  Rabbi Kushner served on the faculty of Bloomfield College from 1983 
to 2003. In May of 1995, the college honored him with a Doctor of Laws 
honoris causa degree.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in acknowledging the 
dedicated service given. Let us come together to join Rabbi Kushner's 
family, including his daughters A viva and Hannah, his friends, and the 
Ner Tamid congregation, clergy and staff, in congratulating Rabbi 
Steven Kushner on his retirement after thirty-eight years of serving 
the Jewish community of northern New Jersey and Temple Ner Tamid of 
Bloomfield.

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