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Senator Weiner offers Passover prayer on Senate floor
Summary
Senator Weiner delivered a ceremonial Passover prayer on the Senate floor, recounting the Exodus narrative, noting matzah observance, and citing a prayer composed by Dutch rabbis at Bergen-Belsen before concluding with an appeal for life and redemption.
Senator Weiner, the senator from Johnson, led the Senate in a Passover prayer during the chamber's opening remarks.
Weiner recounted the Exodus story and described customary observances, saying the holiday "commemorates the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt." He noted the dietary restriction, explaining that during Passover "we eat only matzah or unleavened bread because when we left Egypt, there was no time for the bread to rise." The prayer included a historical note that the particular prayer recited had been composed by two Dutch rabbis at Bergen-Belsen and recalled their deaths shortly before the camp's liberation.
The prayer closed with an appeal for life and deliverance: "Therefore, we beseech you that you will keep us in life and establish us and redeem us speedily ... Amen." The invocation was presented as part of the Senate's ceremonial opening and was followed immediately by routine floor business.
