[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5901-S5902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Welcoming the Guest Chaplain

  Mr. OSSOFF. Mr. President, thank you for the recognition this 
morning.
  It is a pleasure to be with you, Mr. President, here this morning as 
we, together, represent the State of Georgia, an obligation that we 
both cherish, an obligation I cherish sharing with you. And it is a 
pleasure to be with you here, Mr. President, this morning to open the 
Senate, having heard such a moving prayer and such words of wisdom from 
Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple in Atlanta, GA.
  Rabbi, on behalf of the U.S. Senate, we thank you for taking time out 
of your busy schedule tending to your congregation and providing light 
and inspiration to our constituents in Georgia to provide such wisdom 
and a blessing to those of us here in this Chamber who labor each day 
to do the work of the people and to advance the interests of the United 
States.
  I thank you, Rabbi Berg, for your leadership at this moment of trial 
for Jewish Americans in Georgia, across the country, and for Jews 
around the world at this moment that frays the bonds between faith 
communities. I thank you for your interfaith leadership, for your 
consistent calls for solidarity, compassion, and mutual love and 
respect between all people of all faiths.
  It is particularly fitting, Rabbi, that you joined us during 
Hanukkah. And, Mr. President, to have Rabbi Berg here as we approach 
the sixth night, during this moment when so many Jews feel such anxiety 
and fear amidst the overt expression of anti-Semitism such as we have 
not seen for a generation, we draw upon the Hanukkah story--one of 
endurance and resilience and survival--for inspiration, a story that 
can inspire all people of all faiths.
  Finally, Mr. President, I would note, as you and I together represent 
the State of Georgia--for the first time in

[[Page S5902]]

its history represented by a Black man and a Jew--that to have Rabbi 
Berg here representing The Temple's civil rights commitments in 
history--The Temple, which in 1958, as you know, Mr. President, was 
bombed by White supremacists in an attempt at vengeance for Rabbi Jacob 
Rothschild's alliance with civil rights leaders and Dr. King in the 
American South--it is particularly powerful to have Rabbi Berg here 
with us this morning.
  He leads, of course, the congregation where I was bar mitzvahed. We 
are grateful for Rabbi Berg's spiritual leadership.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, it is my honor and joy to join you in 
welcoming our good friend Rabbi Peter Berg to the U.S. Senate today.
  Rabbi Berg, thank you so very much for your inspiring prayer. It 
lifts, before all of us, our highest ideals and reminds us of the 
important work that we are called to do together.
  It is always great to see you. As I often say, every Baptist preacher 
needs a rabbi. And Peter Berg is not only the rabbi at The Temple; he 
is my rabbi. And he is my friend.
  For more than 15 years, Rabbi Berg has led The Temple, Atlanta's 
largest and one of its most historic synagogues. Its history is so very 
important not just for Atlanta's Jewish community but for my own 
church, the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King served and, indeed, 
for the entire city of Atlanta. You are such an important leader in our 
country.
  For more than 50 years, Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, led by Dr. 
King, has had a special relationship with The Temple. After Dr. King 
won the Nobel Peace Prize, some folks in Atlanta didn't want to 
celebrate it. They weren't certain that that was worthy of recognition. 
But it was Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, The Temple's then-senior rabbi and a 
champion for civil rights himself, who helped to bring the city 
together to commemorate that important moment in the movement for 
Georgians. It was an interracial dinner, and that, in and of itself, 
was a movement forward at a time of deep divisions and some of the 
darkest hours of our country.
  And the special relationship has sustained to the present day, where 
Rabbi Peter Berg, who is the fifth senior rabbi in The Temple's 
history, and I, the fifth senior pastor in the history of Ebenezer 
Baptist Church, have carried on that tradition of ecumenical, spiritual 
friendship. And that friendship is genuine.
  As you know, Rabbi, we have done a lot of important work together, 
and I am so grateful for the long history of friendship between our two 
congregations. This past March, I was honored to have you to serve as 
the guest preacher for Ebenezer's 138th anniversary, and you preached 
with all the fire of any Baptist preacher I know.
  In fact, every year, our congregations come together to observe the 
MLK holiday, and we worship and we work together as one beloved 
community.
  But beyond the doors of your congregation, Rabbi Berg has been a 
stalwart champion for change in Georgia. He and I have served together 
on too many occasions to count--from the Georgia Early Education 
Alliance for Ready Students to Faith in Public Life, Faith Forces 
Against Gun Violence, the Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center; our 
work together addressing the issue of mass incarceration in our 
country; standing up against bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, 
Islamophobia. Wherever hatred rears its ugly head, we have spoken time 
and time again together, as one voice. And because of that intersection 
of faith and justice, you will see Rabbi Berg and you will hear his 
voice time and time again.
  We don't have enough time for me to run through all of Rabbi Berg's 
accolades, of which there are many. Time and time again, he has been 
recognized as one of the most influential spiritual leaders in our 
State and in our Nation.
  So on behalf of the State of Georgia, I join Senator Ossoff in 
uplifting our appreciation for Rabbi Berg, who has been a source of 
counsel and a partner in making what Congressman Lewis called ``good 
trouble.''
  And so during this season of Hanukkah and during this season of 
Advent, I lift the words of Isaiah, who said that ``the people who 
walked in darkness have seen a great light. ``
  May our lights continue to shine in this world.
  Rabbi Berg, I am so blessed to have you as a spiritual brother.
  With that, I yield floor.