1 Councilmember Brandon T. Todd 2 3 4 5 6 7 a CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION 8
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1 ____________________________ 2 Councilmember Brandon T. Todd 3 4 5 6 7 8 A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION 9 ____________ 10 11 COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 12 ______________ 13 14 To recognize Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld for his activism, his efforts to combat antisemitism, and his 15 dedication in service to the District of Columbia. 16 17 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld was born on October 9, 1974 in Staten Island, New 18 York City, New York where he grew up with his four siblings; 19 20 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld received his smicha form the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan 21 Theological Seminary in 1999, and a Masters in Jewish History from Bernard Revel Graduate 22 School of Yeshiva University; 23 24 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld was Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of 25 Riverdale from 1999 to 2004, where he was mentored by Rabbi Avi Weiss; 26 27 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld began a PhD under Dr. Haym Soloveitchik at Yeshiva 28 University before choosing to pursue a career in the rabbinate; 29 30 WHEREAS, since 2004, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld has served as the Rabbi of Ohev Sholom 31 - The National Synagogue; 32 33 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld started the Shepherd Park eruv in 2004, which he has 34 led ever since, merging with the Woodside eruv in 2013 to create the Shepherd Park/Woodside 35 community eruv, which encompasses over half a dozen synagogues and thousands of Jewish 36 families; 37 38 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld hosted a weekly radio show from 20018 to 2010 39 called Shmoozin’ with Shmuel, which was aimed at Jewish residents in the Washington, D.C. 40 community; 41 42 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld’s has been a vocal advocate of fighting antisemitism 43 and has been published in a host of publications including The New York Times, the New York Sun, 44 The Jewish Week, The Forward, and Washington Jewish Week; 45 1 46 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld has appeared on various national news mediums to 47 discuss antisemitism and Jewish affiars, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, 48 National Public Radio, CNN, and Fox News; 49 50 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld has published five books: Fifty-Four Pick Up: 51 Inspirational Torah Lessons, Food for the Spirit: Inspirational Lessons from the Yom Kippur 52 Servce (The Orlofsky Edition), The Lieberman Open Orthodox Haggadah (The Orlofsky Edition) 53 in English and Hebrew, Renewal: Inspirational Lessons of Rosh Hashanah (The Orlofsky Edition), 54 and An Extra Seat (A Children’s Book) in English and Hebrew; 55 56 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld delivered the opening prayer for the United States 57 House of Representatives as guest Chaplain on May 23, 2014; 58 59 WHEREAS, since assuming the role of Rabbi at Obhev Sholom – The National 60 Synagogue, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld has grown the synagogue’s membership from 75 families to 61 nearly 400 as of 2015; 62 63 WHEREAS, in 2018, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld helped found the DC Kosher organization, 64 providing free kashrut supervision to vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the DC area; 65 66 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld is married to Dr. Rhanni Herzfeld, and the father of 67 seven children; and 68 69 WHEREAS, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld remains committed to a life of service and community 70 advancement. 71 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution 72 may be cited as the “Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld Ceremonial Recognition Resolution of 2020”. 73 Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia recognizes Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld for his 74 continued advocacy, and thanks him for the distinguished service and valuable contributions he 75 has made to the District of Columbia. 76 Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in 77 the District of Columbia Register. 2 .