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Floor Speech
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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.
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