Education and Sharing Day is a day made by the United States Congress in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson the Lubavitcher Rebbe's (1902-1994) efforts for education and sharing for Jews and non-Jews alike. During his lifetime the Rabbi opened scores of centers of education called "Chabad Houses". The day was inaugurated April 18, 1978, by President Jimmy Carter and has since been proclaimed, by the presiding President, annually on the Jewish birthday of Menachem Mendel Schneerson (11 Nissan). In 2009 it was marked on April 5.
President George W. Bush wrote in his proclamation on Education and Sharing Day 2007:
"Education and Sharing Day honors the legacy of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and emphasizes our commitment to teach the next generation of Americans the values that make our country strong. The Lubavitcher Rabbi believed that society should 'make a new commitment to kindness,' and he helped to establish education and outreach centers offering social service programs and humanitarian aid around the world."
President Barack Obama wrote in his proclamation on Education & Sharing Day 2009:
"Few have better understood or more successfully promoted these ideas than Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who emphasized the importance of education and good character. Through the establishment of educational and social service institutions across the country and the world, Rabbi Schneerson sought to empower young people and inspire individuals of all ages. On this day, we raise his call anew."
The 1991 bill described the Noahide Laws as the "ethical values and principles which are the basis of civilized society and upon which our great Nation was founded".
President George W. Bush called upon "government officials, educators, volunteers, and all the people of the United States to reach out to young people and work to create a better, brighter, and more hopeful future for all."
Famous quotes containing the words education and, education, sharing and/or day:
“A President must call on many persons—some to man the ramparts and to watch the far away, distant posts; others to lead us in science, medicine, education and social progress here at home.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“The want of education and moral training is the only real barrier that exists between the different classes of men. Nature, reason, and Christianity recognize no other. Pride may say Nay; but Pride was always a liar, and a great hater of the truth.”
—Susanna Moodie (1803–1885)
“Eventually we will learn that the loss of indivisible love is another of our necessary losses, that loving extends beyond the mother-child pair, that most of the love we receive in this world is love we will have to share—and that sharing begins at home, with our sibling rivals.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“Sometimes, because of its immediacy, television produces a kind of electronic parable. Berlin, for instance, on the day the Wall was opened. Rostropovich was playing his cello by the Wall that no longer cast a shadow, and a million East Berliners were thronging to the West to shop with an allowance given them by West German banks! At that moment the whole world saw how materialism had lost its awesome historic power and become a shopping list.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)