A message to the Jewish people of New York state was issued by Governor Alfred E. Smith on the occasion of the High Holy days which begin this year on September 27.
“The approaching high holy days of the Jewish people, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, give me the opportunity which I gladly take each year to wish them a happy and prosperous New Year,” Governor Smith stated in his message.
“What I learned about the observance of the high holy days from my old neighbors on the East Side when they gathered in the synagogues to meditate and pray, made a deep impression on me.
“They taught me that New Year’s Day should not be used solely for joyous celebration, but rather as an occasion for spiritual stocktaking, for humility and repentance in order to improve our ways of living in the coming year.
“The religious heritage of your people should be held precious by the younger generation. It has been a great influence from which other civilized races have been the beneficiary, and the children can make no greater contribution to our American citizenship than to apply the teachings of the faith of their fathers to the daily problems of living under the free institutions of our country.
“In wishing my fellow citizens of Jewish faith a good New Year marked by prosperity and peace, I join them in prayer for the continuance of those deeper principles upon which our nation is founded and which have always been nobly upheld by the Jewish people.”
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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.
