The Senator And The Rebbe

The Senator And The Rebbe

The Rebbe gives a hearty welcome to Senator Jacob Javitz, shown here with his grandson, in a private audience where the topics Jewish lineage and education were combined. The Avner Institute is proud to present this newly released photo of the Yechidus, along with a fond recollection by Rabbi Groner, a member of the Rebbe’s secretariat who was present at the time.

Children & Grandchildren

Rabbi Groner relates:

At time of this yechidus (audience), Senator Jacob Javitz was chairman of the Senate Judicial Committee. The senator told the Rebbe that before coming to the visit he had asked his staff to prepare a survey comparing the crime rates between public and religious schools. It was found that while certain crimes – over 70% – took place in public schools, the same crimes were either nil or of very low occurrence (1-2%) in religious schools.“According to this,”

The Rebbe answered, “we see the importance of having religious education. Only through religious education can students be taught how to behave properly.” He urged the senator to find a way to publicize the results of this survey and to have parents enroll their children in parochial schools. Senator Javitz, however, argued that this was not the position of the Senate. “If that’s the case,” the Rebbe said, “at least publicize your results and show the difference between children who are educated in public schools and those who are educated in religious schools.

Show how religious schools prevent them from doing things that are negative and against the law.”The Rebbe also mentioned that he believed Senator Javitz was directly descended from Rabbi Yaakov Emden, known as the Yavitz, which was the Hebrew equivalent of Javitz. “Therefore,” the Rebbe said, “conduct of a descendent of the Yavitz should be in accordance to the wishes of your forefather Yaakov Emden.”

Good Shabbos

Menachem