[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 200 (Thursday, December 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S10089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                     TRIBUTE TO HARVEY LEWIS STEIN

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to take this 
opportunity to thank and congratulate a constituent of mine, Annapolis 
resident Harvey Lewis Stein, whose inspiration, vision, and 
perseverance were singularly responsible for construction of the 
Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel at the U.S. Naval 
Academy. The facility is named for Levy (1792-1862), the first Jewish 
commodore in the U.S. Navy who was famous for refusing to flog his men, 
choosing to lead through inspiration, not intimidation. The Levy Center 
is centrally located between Mitscher Hall, where midshipmen eat 
together three times a day, and Bancroft Hall, where all 4,400 of them 
live. It contains a 410-seat synagogue, a kosher kitchen, a fellowship 
hall, a character learning center, classrooms, and offices for the 
brigade's social director, the academic board, and the academy's honor 
board. It is stunningly beautiful, designed by internationally renowned 
architect Joseph A. Boggs.
  When the U.S. Naval Academy was founded in 1845, all midshipmen were 
required to attend Christian worship services. It was not until 1938 
that the academy allowed Jewish midshipmen to attend a local 
synagogue--Congregation Knesset--on Sunday to worship their own faith. 
In 1981, the academy opened an All-Faith Chapel, which provided worship 
space for Christians and Jews alike. This chapel included an Ark, a 
Torah reading table, and storage for prayer books and other religious 
articles. Catholic midshipmen used this chapel to celebrate daily Mass. 
While this chapel was a great improvement over the other spaces offered 
for Jewish worship, it too presented problems, particularly with regard 
to seating. It often proved too small for services celebrating major 
holidays and life-cycle events.
  Still, the Jewish program grew, and a full-time Jewish chaplain 
joined the academy's complement of chaplains in 1986. The need for a 
dedicated Jewish chapel was not just based on space constraints, 
however. There was a need to show the public, including the Navy, that 
Jews do serve in the military and have done so in every American 
conflict since pre-Colonial days. In addition, Jewish middies needed 
the resources to enhance their identity, both religiously and 
culturally.
  Supporters of a Jewish chapel created the Friends of the Jewish 
Chapel--FOJC--to provide programs for Jewish midshipmen and support the 
needs of the rabbi. CDR Howard Pinskey, SC, USN (Ret), a 1962 academy 
graduate, became the FOJC's first president. He navigated the 
organization through its earliest days of development and became the 
cheerleader who bridged the divide between the birth of a fledgling 
Jewish community and the opportunities that awaited its growth.
  Many people worked for many years on the project, but one person had 
the skill and tenacity to see it through to completion. In 1994, Harvey 
Stein envisioned a dedicated house for Jewish worship, as well as a 
social hall for sharing communal dinners, holding classes, enhancing 
Jewish culture, examining ethics, and bringing together students of all 
faiths to congregate, study, engage, and socialize.
  To proceed, Mr. Stein had to bring the Naval Academy and the 
Department of the Navy on board, find a building site, design the 
building, and raise the necessary funding. Mr. Stein was part of the 
group that successfully appealed to the academy's administration and 
the Secretary of the Navy, obtaining a letter of intent and then a 
letter of commitment. Then, Mr. Stein became instrumental in providing 
the FOJC with its necessary 501 (c) (3) status which allowed FOJC to 
begin the fund raising process.
  Mr. Stein, a successful entrepreneur who founded the home decor and 
merchandise firm HLD, is a team-builder who skillfully cultivated an 
effective group of volunteers and professional men and women to 
champion the Jewish chapel's cause. Through his tenacity, he found ways 
to navigate the hurdles that seemed to block the way to success. He 
cultivated relationships with military personnel and civilians who knew 
how to weave their way through the labyrinth of bureaucracy to a 
successful end. He encouraged good work by setting an example through 
his own energy and work ethic. He opened his heart, his office, and his 
home to the project. Most importantly, he trusted his team, and in 
return, more than 3,000 donors from three countries lent their 
financial, legal, spiritual, military, and political support to the 
Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel. The Levy Center cost 
$8.0 million to design, build, and furnish. Military construction funds 
totaled $1.8 million; private donations the FOJC raised covered the 
balance. Today, this magnificent building stands as a mitzvah and a 
testament to one man's resolve that failure was never an 
option.

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