Scottsdale to mark ‘Education and Sharing Day’ on March 24

Scottsdale Mayor David D. Ortega has proclaimed March 24 as “Education and Sharing Day” in the city of Scottsdale to recognize the importance of ethical and moral education.

The day will be a time to focus on education, after a year in which the pandemic “took a tremendous toll on education, with in-person schooling widely curtailed for months,” according to a press release, noting the proclamation to highlight the emphasis placed on education for all of Scottsdale’s young people.

Education and Sharing Day is said to bring to the forefront the “importance of morality in education, a cause championed by the leader of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory.”

For more than 40 years, presidents, houses of congress, and local governments have recognized the date corresponding to the Rebbe’s birthday on the Jewish calendar as Education and Sharing Day, honoring an individual who brought education to the forefront of public discourse.

The Rebbe emphasized the importance of paying more attention to the building of character and emphasizing moral and ethical values, accentuating the values of personal rights and responsibilities and principled, just behavior, according to the release, offering background about the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory—considered the most influential rabbi in modern history.

Education Day, or Education and Sharing Day is a day of national commemoration designated by every president since Jimmy Carter in 1978. The date of its observance changes annually to correspond with the birthday of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—who is said to have “brought a new emphasis on education to the forefront of public discourse.”

The day is a time to recognize and reaffirm the importance of education in society, according to the release.

“Education must be more than factual enlightenment—it must enrich the character as well as the mind,” said President Ronald Reagan in his 1982 proclamation for the day, echoing the Rebbe’s sentiments, noted the release.

To commemorate the anniversary, the Scottsdale mayor has proclaimed March 24 as “Education And Sharing Day” in the city, calling on government officials, educators, volunteers and citizens of Scottsdale to “reach out to those within your communities and work to create a better, brighter and more hopeful future for all.”

In honor of the Rebbe’s lifetime goals and teachings, local, state, and federal governments are issuing proclamations recognizing the need to teach moral and ethical values to our youth, added the release.

For more about the Rebbe visit: www.therebbe.org.