A message of congratulations from President Coolidge, who was unable to attend the banquet, at the Mayflower Hotel here Saturday night celebrating the 25th anniversary of Rabbi Abram Simon as spiritual head of the Washington Hebrew Congregation of this city was received. President Coolidge’s letter to Rabbi Simon read: “It is with great regret that I find myself unable to attend the dinner in celebration of your twenty-fifth anniversary of your spiritual leadership of the Washington Hebrew Congregation. Your active interest in all things pertaining to the welfare of this congregation brought you not only respect, but real affection.
“I congratulate you most cordially, and for the future years wish you health, happiness and success in your work.”
Leading Gentiles and Jews united in praise of Dr. Simon. Senator Arthur Capper, of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, one of the speakers, declared: “There is no one in Washington for whom there is more universal good will than Dr. Simon. Whenever he has appeared before the Senate District Committee it has been in the interest of the community and not himself.”
High praise for Rabbi Simon’s service as former Chairman of the Board of Education of Washington was voiced by Dr. Frank A. Ballon, Superintendent of the Public Schools of the District. “Any credit for the success of the Washington public school system must be accorded Dr. Simon for guiding it through a stormy era into a period of peace,” Dr. Ballon said, adding that “Dr. Simon has found many opportunities to exhibit that tolerance and brotherhood that is so often lacking in public officials.”
Dr. H. G. Enelow, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis extended felicitations on behalf of that body, as did Dr. Louis Wolsey, chancellor of the Jewish Chautauqua Society for the latter organization. Other speakers included Maurice D. Rosenberg, vice-president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Rabbi William F. Rosenblum, associate Rabbi of the Congregation, Rabbi Louis J. Schwefel, who made the opening prayer, and Frank Hogan, prominent Washington lawyer, Bishop Freeman, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, sent a message declaring that Rabbi Simon has been given “a place of honor in the religious communions of every name.”
Rabbi Simon is a former President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and is now President of the Synagogue Council of America.
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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.
