President Lyndon B. Johnson has asked a personal friend, Rabbi Hyman Judah Schachtel, of Houston, Texas, to deliver one of the four inaugural prayers to be offered at the official inaugural ceremony at the United States Capitol on January 20. Rabbi Schachtel’s prayer will be representative of the Jewish faith. The other three official prayers will be offered by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox clergymen.
Rabbi Schachtel is spiritual leader of Congregation Both Israel of Houston. When President Johnson served as Senate Majority Leader, he invited Rabbi Schachtel to be “chaplain of the day” in the United States Senate chamber and the rabbi then delivered the opening prayer.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
