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Governor Smith Issues Rosh Hashanah Message

September 9, 1928
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(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York issued his annual message on the occasion of the High Holidays. The message read:

“Following my annual custom as Governor, I desire with the approach of the High Holy Days to wish my fellow Jewish citizens a good and prosperous New Year.

“The conception underlying the Jewish observance of the New Year has always appealed to me, It is a day of self-examination with a view of correcting one’s shortcomings in the year to come. It is not a day of carnival but rather of the religious spirit. This is the pirit which animated the original settlers of our country, Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, Baptists, and all the other lenominations which came to our shores to seek freedom to worship God according to their own conscience.

“The separation of church and state is a fundamental American principle. The pursuit of virtue sanctioned by religion is at the basis of any civilized state. Because the Jewish people have a genius for religion they have made their treat contribution to civilization from which men and women of every race and creed have beuefited.

“May the New Year bring to all of us a better understanding based upon espect for our differences and the recognition of our common humanity.”

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