Political Quotes

“I join my friend and colleague, Senator Portman, in rising to recognize the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the giants of American religious life, Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Rabbi Wise adopted Ohio as his home and is recognized as the father of American Reform Judaism. His ideas and teachings and the many great institutions he founded have had a profound effect on American Judaism and on people of faith throughout our country and around the world. Rabbi Wise believed in liberty, in life, and in faith; he wanted to ensure that his ancient religious tradition, which had sustained people for millennia, remained relevant in a new and fast-changing nation. He pioneered ideas like men and women sitting together during services and choral singing and gave so many a new way to understand and practice their faith. The groundbreaking institutions he founded left an indelible mark on Judaism and remain an integral part of our country's religious life to this day: the Central Conference of American Rabbis--CCAR--the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, today known as the Union for Reform Judaism, and Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Rabbi Wise made Cincinnati his home, and in large part because of the institutions he created, Cincinnati became central to the fabric of American Judaism. HUC is a center of Jewish thought, and this year, the CCAR will celebrate its 130th anniversary in the Queen City.…”