The President’s message follows:
“On this occasion of Rosh Hashanah I extend to all those of Jewish faith throughout the United States cordial greetings.
“To Jewry we are indebted for many high ideals which have operated for the benefit of the nation and for the promotion of the brotherhood of man through peace and good will.
“May the coming year have in store for our fellow citizens of the Jewish faith great prosperity and happiness.
(Signed) Franklin D. Roosevelt
GOV. LEHMAN’S MESSAGE
Governor Lehman echoed the gratitude of American Jews “in a land which guarantees religious and political liberty to all” and said that the holiday season, ordinarily an occasion for rejoicing, brings instead “a deep sadness and grief”.
His message reads:
“I am happy to extend New Year’s Greetings to the Jews of the State of New York.
“Ordinarily, this would be a holiday season, — one for rejoicing. The situation, however, in Germany, where six hundred thousand people of our Faith have been singled out for destruction, — economically, socially and politically, — brings us deep sadness and grief. Hundreds of thousands of men and women in all walks of life have been ruthlessly and without pity deprived of their means of livelihood and of the primary rights of citizenship. Loyalty, patriotism, service, have all counted for naught. Even the right of an education is now being denied many of the Jewish children and youths, regardless of their intellectual qualifications.
“We must dedicate ourselves to the determination to help our unfortunate co-religionists in every way possible; that is a duty and a privilege we must recognize and assume.
“We are indeed fortunate to live in a land which guarantees religious and political equality to all of its citizens. These opportunities carry with them corresponding responsibilities which we will fulfill in the future as we always have in the past. In these days of stress let us resolve again to do our full duty as Americans and continue to carry on our traditions of fine American citizenship.
“My best wishes to all.”
(Signed) Herbert H. Lehman
FROM MAYOR O’BRIEN
From Mayor John P. O’Brien came the following message:
“I am happy to be able to congratulate the people of Israel on the beginning of the New Year 5694 and I wish them peace and prosperity.
“New York City contains within itself the largest Jewish population of any city in the world. Many of the brightest names in the arts, the sciences, industry, finance and government that have added to the glory of our City, State and Nation have been those of Jews in this Metropolis.
“But, above all, it is a cause of gratification for all of us that people of all races, creeds and color live in New York City, side by side, without strife and bitterness.
“May that spirit of harmony and mutual friendship prevail throughout the world.”
FROM AL SMITH
Former Governor Alfred E. Smith wrote as follows:
“Gladly do I take this opportunity afforded by your invitation to wish the Jewish people a happy and prosperous New Year.
“I have always been deeply impressed by the Jewish attitude toward the New Year. It is one of introspection and spiritual stocktaking. When I lived among the Jewish people on the lower East side of New York City, the sight of Jewish families walking solemnly to their synagogues on the New Years Day and the sincerity of their prayers always impressed me. I have never been a great believer in celebrating the New Year in a carnival spirit.
“This is only one of life’s lessons which the great religion of the Jewish people has taught the world. Christian civilization owes much to the Jewish people. Unfortunately they have been frequently repaid in suffering and sorrow. For centuries they have been the outstanding victims of persecution and bigotry. Today their persecution in Germany constitutes a blot on our prsent day civilization. No race or people can ever lay claim to being called civilized as long as they persecute people because of their race or religion.
“To my Jewish friends I say take your sustenance from the faith of your fathers. It has given your people courage to live in a world which has persecuted and hated them. That faith has contributed to their survival in the past and only by that faith will they survive in the future.”
FELIX M. WARBURG, DR. SOKOLOW
The German anti-Jewish activities were denounced without mincing words by Jewish leaders in their New Year messages, which read as follows:
Felix M. Warburg:
“The beginning of the New Year 5694, according to the Jewish calendar, cannot but sound a note of disappointment for the last year and of dim hope for the coming one. Revenge is always a low form of retaliation, but to see a perfectly innocent part of a so-called “cultured nation” wilfully and unjustly depressed is sad indeed. In religious wars, the populace has always been incited to fury by wilful, poisonous propaganda, and the present outbreak is no exception. It is only brutality. Not all of Germany, and not the majority of her people, approve the present attitude. We must hope that in time better judgment may return.”
Nahum Sokolow:
“One of the most striking features in Judaism is its universality. Strangely enough the very people who are ignorantly supposed to be the most separate and exclusive are those who possess in the most marked degree a moral system based upon equality and universality. The Day of Memorial, like the Day of Atonement, is not the anniversary of any historical occurrence of special racial interest. It is simply an historic record in the Hebrew Calender that Judaism has, from its commencement, appropriated the chief season of the year for the purpose of making a special effort annually to consider a question of vital issue to all men, namely, the question of personal, moral and spiritual regeneration. Jewish and at the same time entirely human, it goes to the creation of the world…. There is no more striking contrast to Nazi racial hatred and narrow-mindedness than the most liberal universality of Rosh-ha-Shanah. The genius of Judaism is nowhere better displayed, than in this matter of human repentance and regeneration. The whole proceeding is not a glorification of this or another race, tribe or nation, not a selfish condemnation and the making of a scapegoat of anybody else, but an affair between the individual and God himself. Judaism prompts every man to probe his own conscience and to
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.
