Rabbi Daniel Fellman, holding son Zachary, is joined by his wife, Melissa, and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) in the U.S. Senate; the Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple rabbi delivered the Senate’s opening prayer Jan. 29.
Photos courtesy Rabbi Daniel Fellman
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February 17, 2009
While it is not uncommon for a rabbi to offer prayers on behalf of congregants, it is quite another thing to offer them on behalf of some of the world’s most powerful political leaders.
However, Rabbi Daniel Fellman of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick got the opportunity to do just that on Jan. 29 when he gave the invocation for the United States Senate.
“It was incredible when I walked in the chamber,” said Fellman. “It started to take my breath away.”
Fellman was invited to give the opening prayer before the Senate by Sen. Ben Nelson, the Democratic senator from the rabbi’s home state of Nebraska.
“He lived around the corner from us in Omaha, and our families are old friends,” said Fellman. “Just after college in the mid-’90s, I worked as a speechwriter for him, and we’ve remained in contact over the years.”
Before going onto the floor of the Senate, Fellman met with Dr. Barry Black, the Senate chaplain. Black advised Fellman to think of the experience as “a prayer to God on behalf of the senators.”
Fellman composed his own prayer for the occasion, asking God to help the lawmakers fulfill their responsibilities in the “sacred calling of leading the nation.”
“Today and every day,” his prayer reads, “let us strive to fill this chamber with humanity, humility, and hope, honoring our nation’s past while honing our unique yet shared understanding of the future’s ever-present call.”
Rabbi Daniel Fellman with U.S. Senate chaplain Dr. Barry Black, just before the rabbi delivered the Senate invocation on Jan. 29.
Fellman was given floor privileges for the day, spending three hours listening to debates on a children’s health insurance program and creation of governmental oversight on hedge funds.
The New Jersey rabbi also had a “nice, lengthy chat” with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and several other senators.
Fellman is no stranger to the workings of the capital: He worked as a White House intern in college during Bill Clinton’s administration. However, he never met the most famous intern.
“I was an intern the first summer of the Clinton administration — before Monica Lewinsky,” said Fellman.
When Fellman was studying for the rabbinate at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, his father, Richard — a University of Nebraska professor — spoke with Nelson about arranging for his son to deliver the senatorial invocation. The elder Fellman reminded the senator of that conversation after his son became a rabbi in 2005. Arrangements for the invocations are made two years in advance.
Fellman, whose parents flew to Washington for the ceremony, described the long-awaited day as “exhilarating” and “very moving.”
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