Date: 1981-10-27
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Ar. President across the United States. thousands of ministers. priests. rabbis. and other professionally trained religious workers are responsibly and faithfully serving the spiritual needs of millions of Americans. From time to time. however. the record and quality of service of one of those clergymen or religious workers assumes exceptionally noteworthy and remarkable dimensions. Rabbi Samuel Cooper of Bnai Jacob Congregation In Charleston. W. Va.. has achieved such disltinction. NOW. after 49 years of serving his congregation and the CharleFlirn community. Rabbi"Cooper Is retiring. This weekend. hundreds of Rabbi Coopers congregants. friends. and admirers are coming together In Charleston to bid this distinguished spiritual leader farewell. and I want to add my voice to their acclaim. Rabbi Cooper came first to Bnai Jacob Congregation In 1932. As a 22yearold. Canadianborn. fledgling rabbi Just out of rabbinical school. Rabbi Cooper originally officiated at the 1932 high holy days services in Charleston on a temporary and emergency basis. But the young rabbi and the Charleston Jewish community were destined for a surprise. Almost instant attachment Is not always limited to budding romances. Apparently from the beginning. the elders of Bnai Jacob were captivated by their interim teacher and pastor. His presence. eloquence. demeanor. and brilliance quickly won for Rabbi Cooper a warmth. respect. and reverence usually reserved for a more mature and seasoned rabbi. In consequence. the people of Bnai Jacob overwhelmingly voted to ask Rabbi Cooper to become their permanent rabbi. The famous American clergyman Phillips Brooks once said. "A sermon Is truth expressing itself through human Personality." One might paraphrase Brooks by adding that an effective ministry is compassion expressing Itself through human Personality. Not coincidentally. under Rabbi Coopers nurturing leadership and ministry over nearly five decades. the Bnai Jacob congregation was renewed. grew. and extended a widening and welcome Influence throughout the Charleston area. Consequently. a growing recognition came to Rabbi Cooper from outside his congregation. Among the many responsibilities that Rabbi Cooper accepted were the chairmanship of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission and the Charleston Housing Council. and membership on the Board of Trustees of the American Red Cross and the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America. In addition to serving as the president of the Zionist Region of Ohio. Indiana. Kentucky. and West Virginia. Rabbi Cooper has also been West Virginias delegate to the American Jewish Conference and a delegate to the World Zionist Congress in Basle. Switzerland. For these and his many other public contributions. in 1964. Rabbi Cooper was honored as West Virginian of the Year. Mr. President. I commend Rabbi Cooper for his years of unselfish service to the Bnai Jacob Congregation and to Charleston. Rabbi Cooper Is departing a familiar field of labor for new challenges and perhaps a more leisurely pace of responsibilities. May he go assured of the heartfelt appreciation of thousands of people whom his influence has touched. and confident of the strength of the moral and spiritual foundations that he helped lay in the lives of countless men and women throughout his rabbinate. Mr. President. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.