Kentucky Shliach Opens U.S. Congress on Chai Elul

Rabbi Shlomo Litvin of Lexington, Kentucky, served today as guest chaplain of the United States Congress, offering the opening prayer on Chai Elul, the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe.

Rabbi Litvin said: “I was honored to serve as chaplain in Congress, especially on Chai Elul, such an important day on the Jewish calendar. There was no greater patriot and no one who better understood the blessings of America than the Lubavitcher Rebbe, my personal mentor and the foremost Jewish leader of the modern era. I was humbled to represent him today.”

Rabbi Litvin, together with his wife Shoshi, directs Chabad of the Bluegrass and the Jewish Student Center at the University of Kentucky. He is chairman of the Kentucky Jewish Council, a national voice against antisemitism, a writer and educator, and a commissioner on the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. He also serves as a chaplain for the Kentucky General Assembly.

He is the second rabbi in Kentucky history born in the commonwealth who returned to serve there. A Louisville native and graduate of Louisville Jewish Day School and Tomchei Tmimim in Israel, he lives in Lexington with his wife and their children.