Guest Chaplain Rabbi Bernhardt

GUEST CHAPLAIN RABBI BERNHARDT

Mr. BIDEN. Madam President, Delaware is a small State and everyone seems to know everyone else. We know just about everyone in the State. You can't go to the grocery store, church, synagogue, or mosque without running into people you know. We go to each other's events. It is a little like Alaska-small. Alaska is gigantic, but the population is small. We go to each other's gatherings, and we are affected by each other's achievements and each other's milestones, and we are affected by each other's losses. Sometimes the closeness gets us in trouble, but I would not change it for the world.

It has been an honor and a pleasure to represent my State and to have the pleasure over the years to invite several members of our clergy to come and be guest Chaplains.

Rabbi Ellen Bernhardt is our guest Chaplain today. As Senator Carper said, she is finishing her 11th year at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington, not far from where I live. The academy is open to all students, although it is the only Jewish day school in our State.

It has been a pleasure visiting the school on a number of occasions. Over the years, we have spent a fair amount of time in fundraising events together, sharing the dais, and attempting to see to it that the school remains vibrant. That has been going on, actually, before the rabbi was running the school. But the fact is, her dedication, talent, faith, and deep abiding commitment to her students and her work in my State has touched many people in our community. For that, we are all very grateful.

I believe I speak for all my colleagues when I say thank you for your thoughtful, inspirational invocation this morning. We need it badly at this moment in the United States. We are honored to welcome you to the floor of the Senate.

I arrived here almost 32 years ago and I feel the same amount of pride today that I felt then as I walk out on this floor. I know that sounds corny, but I really do. I am incredibly proud of this institution. I remember the first time I walked on the floor; my temporary desk was the second from the end over there. I realized I was standing next to the desk where Daniel Webster sat. I thought to myself, it is the only time I actually thought, my God, what am I doing here? In the last 31 years, some in my constituency have said: My God, what is he doing there? I have become accustomed to it. My impression at that time-and I don't know the rabbi's impression-was how small this Chamber is. There is a closeness to it. It is a comfort. Anyway, I am proud we are able to share the floor with the rabbi today.

Let me say, my relationship and personal connection with the rabbi is a quintessential example of the nature of the State of Delaware.

I happen to know that the rabbi grew up over her father's drugstore in Belfonte, which I frequented a lot. I went to St. Helena, a Catholic grade school in Claymont. Everybody knew your father's drugstore. Everybody hung out in your father's drugstore. I am considerably older than the rabbi. So we basically come from the same small neck of the woods, the same small neighborhood.

The rabbi's father was a heck of a guy, by the way. As a kid and a member of the Congregation Ades Kodesh Shel Emeth, Ellen would study after school with her rabbi, Rabbi Leonard Gewirtz-a man I always affectionately referred to as literally "my rabbi." He introduced me frequently. He became my first tutor-literally, not figuratively-because of my interest in theology and the Holocaust. I remember speaking up at a college, a rabbinical school in Philadelphia. I remember those big old thick shoes he used to wear, the kind that laced up the side and squeaked on a linoleum floor. I was speaking in this room that was not very commodious for speaking; it was long and with low ceilings, and the podium was in the middle. It was a shoal, actually. He came late and wanted to hear me speak. He opened the door and the congregation was seated and the door smacked against a pew. He walked in and, as you know, he walked right up to the front and sat down. It was kind of a tense moment. Everybody wondered who is this guy walking in. I said, "My rabbi has arrived."

After speaking to this all-Jewish congregation, a group of ladies my mom's age, who were in an atrium that connected the shoal to the university, the school-as I walked out, they were arguing. I could hear them saying: Yes, he is. No, he isn't. Yes, he is. A lady grabbed me by the coat and said: You said "your rabbi. He had a similar influence on me-though much more profound to you but no less significant to me." He was a great man.

He was famous for his passionate sermons from the pulpit, his love for Jewish education, his love for Israel and the community he served.

Rabbi Gewirtz was truly a spiritual leader and, as Ellen will tell you, is the reason she decided to become a rabbi. We truly miss him, but his spirit is with her today. I know he is looking down and is very proud. He was also proud of this place, proud of this country, proud of the Senate. To have you here, I am sure, he is smiling.

There are a lot of other things I could and would like to say about Ellen. As I said, we are very similar in the sense that we are truly products of our parents' upbringing and, knowing her story, it is no surprise to me that she has devoted her life to Jewish education, community service, and to her family.

Her grandparents came to this country by way of Ellis Island. Her entire mother's side of the family chose to remain in Eastern Europe and were tragically killed in the Nazi Holocaust.

Her extended family was conspicuously absent from her life. As one can imagine, this had a profound effect on Rabbi Bernhardt and her family's life, priorities, and values.

Her father, Herman Gordon, was one of the many heroic members of the Armed Forces who chose to enlist in the Army Air Corps at the outset of World War II. Mr. Gordon served as a waist gunner on the Flying Fortress B-17 bomber.

Based in England, his unit performed missions over France and Germany, clearing the way for our troops to land on the beaches of Normandy. On his 24th mission, his plane was shot down over Germany. As a Jew, he became a prisoner of war in Germany for 9 months. The latter 3 months of his imprisonment was spent marching at gunpoint on the infamous "death march"-a desperate move by the Nazis to relocate their POWs straight into the heart of Germany, out of the hands of the Allied forces which were closing in, which I always thought was a metaphor for the insanity, the lust of Hitler and Nazi Germany. This nightmare all came to an end when Mr. Gordon's camp was liberated by General Patton's army.

It is quite a story, quite a heritage, and quite a family. As my dad, who passed away about a year and a half ago, would say: Girl, you have good blood; you have real good blood.

I only hope our children and grandchildren develop an appreciation for the sacrifices of so many Americans, such as Ellen's father, and the thousands of soldiers who are currently serving abroad have done for this country.

One of the reasons I am telling this story is to give my colleagues and constituents back home an insight into what motivates our guest Chaplain this morning to energize her students, family, and friends to better the Delaware community and to uphold our American values with the same patriotic zeal exemplified by her father.

Last year, for the fourth consecutive year, I submitted a resolution in the Senate to designate the week of Veterans Day as "National Veterans Awareness Week." It explicitly underscores the need for our schools to develop educational programs to highlight the contributions of veterans in our country.

This past year, Ellen held a very moving ceremony. The school invited every friend, relative, or neighbor of a student who served in our military to come and speak at the ceremony in front of the entire school and faculty about their experiences.

Madam President, included in the list of speakers was the mother of LT Scott Travis, a Wilmington native, a graduate of Brandywine High School and West Point, who is currently serving in Iraq.

The ceremony brought real people with real stories into the classroom and gave the kids a tangible sense of what it meant and what it means to sacrifice for one's country. The climax was when students pinned medals on the veterans in attendance as a way to personally thank them for their service.

That is the kind of school Ellen runs. That is the kind of person Ellen is.

By the way, for the record, let me say that in my 31st year in the Senate, Rabbi Bernhardt is only the fifth guest Chaplain I have invited from Delaware, following in the footsteps of Father Jim Trainer from St. Patrick's Church, Rabbi Kenneth S. Cohen from Congregation Beth Shalom, and Father Robert Balducci from St. Anthony's Parish.

From where I sit, you are in good company and so are they.

I thank Rabbi Bernhardt for being here this morning. By the way, you should be very proud of your son sitting behind me who is a relatively new member of my staff. He is already having an impact in the conduct of business around here.

Again, I know I speak for all my colleagues when I welcome you and your family here today. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for this country, and thank you for the values you are imprinting on the young men and women of my community.

I yield the floor.