Miami Shliach Escapes Furor

By COLlive reporter

There was a fiery debate whether the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting should open again with a prayer which has not been done since 2004.

The American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue the county if the prayers become too specific to a certain religion, CBS4 reported.

While Anthony Verdugo, President of the Christian Family Coalition, said prayer would be a message of “inclusiveness for everyone including people of faith.”

The commissioners voted to reinstate the prayer and chosen to do so was Rabbi Avrohom Brashevitzky, Director of Chabad Jewish Center of Doral in Florida.

And he managed to find favor with both supporters and opponents of the decision.

He began with putting 26 coins into a charity box representing the 26 killed in the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut.

He then continued to pray, “May G-d the Almighty bless you all, bless us all with peace, harmony and the ability to continuously do good and share love.”

Even Sally Heyman, one of three commissioners who voted against bringing back prayer, said she approved of the Shliach’s invocation, reported Miami’s Channel 4.

“I think that was a full olive branch coming forward,” she said about the universal and peaceful message that Rabbi Brashevitzky offered in typical Chabad way.