The New York Board of Rabbis will make a citation to the three astronauts who circled the moon in Apollo 8 in recognition of the “profound spiritual quality” shown by their reading from Genesis while in orbit around the moon. In a telegram to Col. Frank Borman, Maj. William A, Anders and Capt. James A. Lovell, Jr., the Board congratulated the trio on their great scientific feat and declared that “your reading from Genesis evoked responsive chords in hearts of all spiritually attuned people throughout this good earth, even as it indicated depth of your own religious feeling and humility in presence of God’s majesty and His wondrous creation. In midst of magnificent technological accomplishment your message from the moon has redirected man’s focus to God.”
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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.
