Dropsie College Celebrates Founders Day

Founder’s Day was celebrated at the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning on the evening of March 10th. The prayer was made by Rabbi Abram J. Levy and there was music as well as addresses by Dr. Cyrus Adler and Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen.

Dr. Adler in hisnaddress referred to the death of Judge Sulzberger, saying: “It does not comfort us to feel that our sorrow was shared by the entire City of Philadelphia and by the world of students and scholars, for in a way he was peculiarly our son. His life and that of our Founder were closely intertwined. Moses A. Dropsie was the master and teacher of Mayer Sulzberger and not only in the law. Mr. Dropsie was the President of the Board of Trustees of Maimonides College and Judge Sulzberger its Secretary over sixty years ago and in after years these two men labored together most earnestly in this City for the cause of Jewish learning… On the roll of honor of the College, the name of Mayer Sulzberger will always be associated with that of the Founder, and that of Mrs. Elizabeth Lazarus, our Benefactor, to which list Mayer Sulzberger’s name is to be added by reason of the generous benefactions contained in his will.

“I look forward with full confidence to the strengthening and enlarging of the Dropsie College even if I may not be granted the happiness of seeing it in my own day. Those who study the past and thereby obtain a true perspective are never discouraged by the present for they always feel secure of the future. Institutions of learning wisely builded and faithfully administered are the safest guarantee for the future of civilization.”

Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen, In his address, proposed that a national memorial be created in honor of Judge Sulzberger, in the shape of a fund of $150,000 to publish a popular Jewish commentary on the Bible.