[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H773-H774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  Rabbi Seth Frisch, New Shul of America, Rydal, Pennsylvania, offered 
the following prayer:
  Almighty, I stand before You in prayer and in memory as I am reminded 
of Solomon, King of ancient Israel, who would preside over a most 
unusual judicial hearing, one in which two mothers would lay claim to 
the life of one child, a child they each would insist to be their own.
  This parable allows us to see Solomon's wisdom as preserving the 
nation, as we are sadly reminded, so soon after his death, that the 
kingdom is split asunder.
  I, too, am reminded of Abraham Lincoln, when he spoke with prophetic-
like prescience: ``A house divided cannot stand,'' which was soon to 
become a war of brother against brother. From this we would soon learn 
that our future lies not in enmity, but in unity.
  For, Lord, the Book of Leviticus, from Your Torah, teaches us in 
words inscribed upon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia: ``Proclaim 
liberty throughout the land, to all of the inhabitants thereof,'' thus 
uniting one of our Nation's ideals, ``e pluribus unum,'' out of the 
many, one.
  Lord God, the Founders of this Nation understood our strength to be 
in the celebration of our differences while assiduously working to put 
our divisions behind us.
  And so it is, Dear God, that we pray You remain with us. Continue to 
guide all of us in realizing the dream of this great country, to be a 
Nation indivisible, a Nation seeking liberty, and above all, a Nation 
providing liberty and justice to all.

[[Page H774]]

  Amen.

                          ____________________