Synagogue Council Presents 1961 a Wards to Three Jewish Leaders

Three leaders of American Jewry, each representing a distinct wing of organized Jewish religion in this country, were presented with the annual Synagogue Statesman Awards here tonight at a dinner attended by 300 religious and civic leaders under the auspices of the Synagogue Council of America. The award winners were Samuel H. Daroff, of Philadelphia; Ludwig Jesselson, of New York; and Brigadier General David Sarnoff, also of New York; representing, respectively, the Conservative, Orthodox and Reform denominations.

Following the presentation of the scheduled awards, a surprise award was given, to former Senator Herbert H. Lehman, who was one of the principal speakers. Citing Mr. Lehman as the “first among synagogue statesmen,” Rabbi Julius Mark, president of the Synagogue Council, lauded the surprise recipient for “his many years of devotion and service to Jewry, to America, and to all mankind.” The Synagogue Statesman Award consists of a sculpture in bronze, done by Isaac Butinsky, showing the prophet Isaiah “heating swords into plough shares and spears into pruning hooks.”

Other speakers in addition to Mr. Lehman were Dr. Lewis Webster Jones, president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews; the Rev. H. Leroy Brininger, assistant general secretary of the National Council of Churches; and the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Raymond J. Gallagher, secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Charities. Chairman of the dinner was Benjamin Lazrus, head of the Synagogue Council’s National Advisory Council. The Synagogue Council of America is the national coordinating organization of the rabbinic and congregational agencies of all three branches of the American Jewish religious community.