Scores of senators and members of the House of Representatives attended a Capitol Hill ceremony Thursday honoring Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the Lubavitcher rebbe, on his 89th birthday and praising him for his “vision and leadership.”
This is the 14th year the ceremony has been held on Capitol Hill as part of “Education Day-USA,” which is made to coincide with the rebbe’s birthday, on the 11th of Nissan, according to Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, national director of the American Friends of Lubavitch. This year the rebbe’s birthday falls on Tuesday.
The lawmakers, accompanied by Lubavitcher representatives from their states or districts, also signed a proclamation praising the rebbe.
Perhaps the biggest applause at Thursday’s ceremony came when Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) called for the enactment of a tax credit for parents of children attending parochial schools.
Sens. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), wearing a white yarmulka, and Daniel Moynihan (D-N.Y.) urged the Soviets to return to the Lubavitch movement a 15,000-book library confiscated after the Bolshevik Revolution. The library is now in Moscow.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
