[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 165 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING AND CELEBRATING RABBI MICAH GREENSTEIN'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY AT 
                             TEMPLE ISRAEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUSTOFF. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor and congratulate a 
great Memphian and friend, Rabbi Micah Greenstein, who is celebrating 
30 years of service and commitment to Temple Israel in Memphis and the 
entire Jewish community.
  Rabbi Greenstein is the eighth senior rabbi at Temple Israel, a 
synagogue founded in the 1850s. He has served as senior rabbi for over 
20 years and is now celebrating his 30th anniversary at Temple Israel.
  In 1991, after completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees at 
Cornell University, Harvard, and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish 
Institute of Religion, Rabbi Greenstein came to Memphis, a place he and 
his family have called home for more than 30 years.
  Over the years, Rabbi Greenstein has served as two-time president of 
the Memphis Ministers Association, was the first rabbi to speak at the 
Washington National Cathedral on a major state day and has been named 
by Newsweek magazine as one of the top American rabbis in 2012 and 
2013.
  Rabbi Greenstein has been honored with the Memphis City Council 
Humanitarian Award and the Memphis Theological Seminary's President's 
Humanitarian Award. As clearly demonstrated, Rabbi Greenstein has 
worked throughout his career to make his community, his home in 
Memphis, and his country a better place.
  Mr. Speaker, when you speak with members of Temple Israel, they will 
tell you how extraordinary the congregation is, and that is due to the 
rabbi's dedication, his charisma, and his passion. I talked to Laurie 
Meskin, the current president of Temple Israel. She stated: ``Rabbi 
Greenstein has made our synagogue, Temple Israel, what it is today. He 
is truly gifted at mobilizing people from near and afar, is a great 
communicator and orator, and believes in a vibrant Jewish future for 
all of us in Memphis.''
  From my good friend and former Temple Israel president, Billy Orgel: 
``Many families at Temple Israel are very intertwined with the 
Greenstein family, as everyone knows each other in Memphis. Our kids 
know each other very well and are all the same age. Rabbi Micah is a 
good friend who is there in sickness and in health.''
  He continues: ``He is not just our rabbi, but to many in the Memphis 
community, no matter their religious background, he is a close friend 
as well. He is their rabbi too.''

  Rabbi Greenstein has forged bonds with numerous other religious 
leaders in Memphis and throughout the country. For example, he led 
Memphis' first interfaith religious leaders mission to Israel years 
ago.
  Another friend of mine, Mark Halperin, also another former Temple 
Israel president, said: ``Ultimately, the unique thing about Rabbi 
Micah is that he is the whole community's rabbi. Temple Israel is a 
special place, but it makes it more special to have someone like Rabbi 
Micah there with us.''
  In a 1999 profile of the rabbi in Memphis Magazine, the article cited 
a then young college-age Micah Greenstein finishing at Harvard's JFK 
School of Government and deciding to switch studies from what he said 
was public service to Jewish service. The rabbi went on to say: ``I'm 
doing exactly what I think God intended for me to do, to touch people's 
lives in a Jewish way, to make the world more human, and to bring 
people together to share their differences.''
  Roberta and I congratulate Rabbi Micah, his loving wife, Sheril; and 
their three children, Cara, Jake, and Julia, on this incredible 30-year 
milestone.
  We say mazel tov.

                          ____________________