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Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is my heartfelt for the image to welcome you on behalf of your Shiva as we mark two decades of notable dedication to the youth of the world and the ideals of higher education and the status of a great university and I may say that and its twenty years as a University this fall in love and I kind of me has earned a place and the life of our land on much by any other institution comprising seventeen branches leading to the degrees and diplomas and practically all of the odds and Sciences drawings as perhaps the greatest single contribution of our people to the rich culture of the world it is a mighty Academy of higher learning certainly not simply a Jewish school although it followed from an ancient tradition and not merely a school for Jews in America but an intellectual citadel for American youth and indeed the youth of all the world it is supported in the man by eyed people from all around great progress the blessing of freedom and a land where the creation of such a university was not only made possible but encouraged by people of every faith throughout the land although it is the guardian of a rare and glorious tradition if she be university keeps pace with the most advanced concepts of education and the ever widening needs of our community. But the value of his Shiva that stretches far beyond its own campus even beyond the borders of our continent and across the seas anchored in the bedrock of a burning frame in view of where the aspirations of them are Crissy and devoted to the preservation of human dignity you Shiva is elicit in the service of all mankind and in the friends of freedom and the most notable aims of education this is a time for film and the small academy of a few decades ago has grown from strength to strength to become a sanctuary for the heart and mind of your once in crest of knowledge a beacon against the gathering darkness vanishing ignorance and fear bringing light to the soul of men it has been my great privilege and yours to be a part of you Shiva doing this momentous era one has happened is all the more significant because of the vast events and not pay bills that have taken place in our troubled world during those years of tragedy and triumph I dare say that no two decades in human history have been marred by such violence same gender challenge such three members victories of signs on vision such enormous conquests of time and space and yet such a time a tidal wave of in human horror as to shatter the very meaning of the word civilization I recall the day when the New York State Board of Regents amended the charter of this institution to establish a university. It was nineteen hundred forty five and the world stood stunned gathering its senses far the monumental task of recovering from the greatest sangrias of any age the world was emerging from a time of ABLE TO DAY twenty years later I ask myself how have we come so fast how have we done so much Never before has there been such tremendous progress for mankind to realize its own powers for good to achieve peace and plenty and to walk in the path of the Almighty and this incredible opportunity to build a better world out of all of our grim yesterdays has been given to us by the magic of education by the growing to show that knowledge is indeed the greatest human power of all and that it would never was more powerful than now and it is our sacred and solemn responsibility. To bring more power to education by the young Formspring strength of our support for those in the classroom the library and the lecture hall that joins the world seek and find and secure the hope of the world every man and woman in this vast room in this mammoth city in this great and God loving nation must come to recognize the fact that education can only thrive to serve our children and other generations of the future if we are generous What are assistance here and I know there are nearly five million students in America's colleges and universities. And the number will more than double in the next few years if we can find funds enough and space enough to accept it the story is the same at our own Yeshiva University but by your benevolence you are breathing new life into Wisconsin the expanding structures lifting is still our star Why do good start so that none who seek learning and are qualified shall be the night the night by sacrifice in his generosity you have brought just Shiva do is present maturity and distinguished among the foremost schools of our age you are the miracle workers who can point what pride at American juries proudest gift to the future of civilization more than not you have lived at any turn on monument to symbolize the magnificent contributions of our people to this land in which we live here on the shores where your fathers found refuge and welcome the towers of history does rise against a troubled sky like a menorah lighted in the soul of man what a reward it is to see these and dying flames the windows obvious she even lighted up against the gathering dog there is this serene glow of this thing College for Women and the new building in Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue which will hold a fountain student there is a reassuring beginning of our great town but I'm seeing College of Medicine there is our College of Arts and Sciences our seminary teachers institutes and training schools there will be a splendid new library and Graduate School of Science. Developed for Graduate School of Science and soon I hope we will plan to build schools of law and engineering issues of his lamb for knowledge is branching out to bring the light for the groping feet of youth and almost every path of civilizations progress in one thousand nine hundred forty five when you achieve his dream of university status was phrased realize our budget was five hundred thousand dollars today embracing all of our schools and divisions as well as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine the budget has risen to the sun of nearly fight thirty million dollars Why don't exultation we may justly feel to have fathered this beloved school there is still a deep sense of the sacred in helping to create and sustain so proud impressions a shrine of raining where the young men and women may study the arts in skills the ways and means to build a better tomorrow it is spreading that we share our pride and faith with the three men were the three new an eminently distinguished members of the U.C. the university family the esteemed honorary alumni. We extend heartfelt congratulations. As we welcome our cherished friend and friend of all people you would Humphrey vice president of the United States. Not just remembering the gifted scientific enterprise or to the president of the United States talk to Donald F. morning. And to my beloved colleague and coworker who has done so much for your C.V. university through its constant generosity and behalf of the output I'm seeing College of Medicine our own Samuel Golding. Among our out of gas here before you and throughout this room are men and women of good will with sincere love for the young with the fullness appreciation of the value of education in our efforts to sustain a free nation and a free world letters trust that from you will continue to come the inspiration and the action that will build even stronger bridges of understanding and knowledge among men and nations we must brighten the day to peace and brotherhood with a small but steady candles of wisdom that all make your eyes lighted and the heart of every man. Our people despite agony and torment found the strength and the faith to banish darkness and confusion to place the pride to a better life God willing Fryman all of governing we shall not shrink from our duty the challenge is here that the time is now the task is great but we must be ready we will be ready Thank you. It is my great pleasure at this time to be calling here your attention to a way the mayor of the city of New York who has never failed to be with us I am proud to say that our next speaker and I want to guest as a faithful friend of your shooter his record of attendance at our annual dinners is just about perfect your own great grandparents voted him into the state of sampling then your grandparents voted him into an office as president of the Board of it of the of the borough of Manhattan your parents voted for him to be married of New York City and you yourselves must have agreed that he did a pretty good job because your send him back for three times as our man for all we know your children will go right and do the same thing all over again. Ladies and gentlemen the free citizens of New York. Thank. You. Very much my good friend child. Vice President says Humphrey Falcon. Golding representing his father a guest of honor and all of the kind of guest and here tonight it's a great privilege for me to be here once again to be able to bring to all of you to be honored guests the official Greetings have I said in your C.V. University is one of the great spiritual cultural educational and beneficial forces and I city it is a lamp rays of light reach beyond our borders into many corners of the earth and the Talmud it is written that scholars are building. And builders of the world your C.V. University is a place of both teaching and scholarship recognizing its mission as the training of builders of the world it was said by the great Jewish sages of the Middle Ages my mind it is that they had vans spend learning is the highest command. Here at its Shiva this commandment is obeyed but your savior recognizes the truth well expressed by Confucius learning without thought is useless he said while thought without learning is dangerous. Nor does it Shiva place its emphasis upon Dr learning of facts which are like the sands of the desert as useless as they are numberless and less anchored and cultivated and above all watered by spiritual purpose and meaning as institutions go as we know your C.V. University is a young one its growth during its three quarters of a century of existence has been phenomenal its achievements have been inspirational New York City is proud to be its home you see the university has also recognized a major responsibility to the community and the City of which it is a POD Seaver has shown leadership and accepting special responsibility for those groups of New Yorkers whose members have been the victims of social racial cultural and economic handicaps and disadvantage this sense of social responsibility has been demonstrated in many ways that Jacoby hospital in the Bronx and the antipoverty demonstration project in South East Bronx launched recently with federal funds allocated through our anti poverty operations board and in many other ways but I did not come tonight to recite the praises of a university ought to eulogize the catalogue of its contributions to various aspects of the life of New York City and here rather First of all simply to salute great and wonderful Dr Belk and the administrators the faculty and the patrons of you Shiva or let's guess assemble at this dinner and of course to salute through Jerry the special guest of honor is to stand Golding. Mr Golding is an important figure in the economic life of a city and you do well to honor him for his affective support of the purposes of your C.V. University and I'm very glad to salute him as an old and good friend and as an old and good friend of my beloved father of course New York City is always honored by the presence here today of the second ranking official of the United States government and his lovely wife a man of resplendent intellect in is own right a leader of thought a champion of all who have known discrimination and disadvantage the vice president of the United States thank you OK thank you we saved your honorary degraded A is a worthy Dr of the humanities the peace and the progress and you but I'm glad you're on the team because I have the honor of. Having an honorary degree thank you and I'm always very happy and pleased to read him officially and also personally he is my dear friend as he is I'm sure of many of those present here tonight. Humphrey is a great man and his greatness springs from a kind of experience that William Cohen Bryant described in the following words difficulty is a nurse of greatness Brian wrote a high school nurse who rocks her foster children rough but rocks them into strength and athletic proportions the mind grappling with great aims and wrestling with mighty impediments grows by a certain assessment team to the stature of greatness such as the great vice president Hubert Humphrey. The virtues I have attributed to him my virtues taught and ennobled at your C.V. university these virtues spring from an ancient tradition of which C.V. University is an expression of the traditions of respect for both human and spiritual values the prophets and the sages have Israel exalted and extol those virtues and help make permanent pillars of those traditions that great spiritual and cultural heritage presides over this occasion and I thank you for the privilege once again of extending our greetings to. You OK. Thank you very much their way. By their friends they could be no better example of the American dream and its true Vilna and than our illustrious guest of honor and principle speaker born in modest circumstances. By hard work unswerving determination and dauntless courage he undertook the long journey on the road to greatness there are few one whose country and indeed in the world who have contributed so let's leave it lasting really to the cause of peace to the advancement of freedom out of home and abroad and to the creation of economic and educational opportunities for all men as a university professor he what he has not only instructed him poetical science but I have studied it deeply and interpreted all nations' policies what a depth of wisdom and breadth of our therapy process part human and Public Affairs. While serving as mayor of Minneapolis he lines you understand the problems of minorities but he is more than a detached observer or academic diplomat he's a man all of the people keenly aware of humanity's crime needs and eminently equipped to serve our nation and the cause of all nations seeking justice in this time of crisis it is perhaps a measure of this stature of this man that doing his years as a member of the Congress he frequently took time off from his burden similarly sponsibility just to spend an hour or so with visiting groups of school children speaking to them on the importance of continuing their education and energetic and brilliant Sen He won the love and the same of the entire country and I'm confident that history will record record him as one of the truly great statesmen of our time and now let us for a screed the gracious lady who has been his constant companion and inspiration Mrs you would harm. Your shivers great free great name for a grateful for the honor you have paid our university and to save as you have given our people Mr Vice President and all free people everywhere ladies and gentleman. This is the greatest pleasure for me this evening to introduce to you the vice president of the United States. Are I. Thank you very much. Thank you very much my good longtime friend Charles silver I am technically honored tonight that you have introduced me and presented Mrs Humphrey to this wonderful audience and my respects to the distinguished and where the rabbis that have gathered here with the seceding and of course my admiration respect for the great leader of your Stever university your own Dr Belton and his lady Mrs Bell can. Aree there are so many that I should like to cite for just a moment because of your generous and invaluable help for this fine institution of the like mint and learning but I am particularly conscious of the fact that this evening the honored guest who cannot be with us stoop to illness Mr Samuel Golding this on a guest has been exceedingly helpful to this great university and I have had the opportunity to day and it is a rare opportunity and privilege to have visited with his son and a fine son walks in the footsteps of a fine and generous and noble father thank you Maria. You're giving me every full day game we have had a reception we've had a congregation. And this is Humphrey and I have had. Other engagements today we. Were the guests of his eminence the Cardinal Spellman with our friend Mr Silver and we were also visiting with many of our beloved friends around this city I was hoping to get a hold of the mayor but he's a businessman I've ever found. And he joined with us a Saturn Una's we were present for the dedication of three ambulances and a bible building. For the American Red Morgan dumping of Israel. So you can see that we haven't been idle during the day. But tonight it's a particular privilege for me to be here we have participated in this convocation in observance of the twentieth anniversary of the spine university and I have had a high honor bestowed upon me by a great educator and great leader and from a great university is on or a degree in doctors law Dr of Laws will be a priceless and much valued possession are developing when you come to my office you will see it on the wall. Because I consider these degrees these honors to be the gift of a very kind and generous people not long ago I spoke at an occasion similar to this one and then I recall the debt which America and her people order the prophets of ancient Israel and never forget that these prophets were teachers they were professions they were learned men they were gifted men they spoke the voice of God which meant they had wisdom. Now I am not a. Scholar of the Tolman but I can claim a little distinction here being a retired Sunday school teacher who once taught a course on social ethics or social action and the teachings of the prophets in fact if you come to my office you will see in my library rather sizable section of the Library of a shelf with the books on the life of the prophets life in the works of the prophets and I recall it as a young student when I was getting my master's degree at Louisiana State University I wrote a paper on the relationship between the Old Testament prophets and the New Deal the style down doesn't really give you some indication of my politics. But I found the inspiration for liberal and progressive government in the writings in the teachings of the prophets and to night I wish to just visit with you about that for many years I have believed that the best that we have been able to create in this country the truly enduring aspects of our accomplishments the noblest aspects of our aspirations bears a striking kinship to the vision of the prophets of ancient Israel in fact I don't believe you can really understand America and what America really is in spirit and in substance unless you are acquainted with the writings and the vision of the ancient prophets There's an old Hebrew legend that God created many worlds before he was finally satisfied with the one in which he placed man as God had many opportunities to create different kinds of worlds. So do men have different philosophies different ideologies different visions of what our world should be but the American tradition and they have great tradition have always agreed not only on the possibility of building a society which men might call great but also on the social and ethical foundations upon which that great society must rest and to a remarkable degree that similarity that common vision can be traced to the teachings of the prophets is it any wonder then that this president of ours whose fame whose favorite teacher and prophet is I say. Should speak of the Great Society and call upon America to build it the prophets articulated the belief that for an individual to know God his own life must exemplify those qualities which God Himself exemplifies God is merciful say the prophets so must man be compassionate then as God is just so must Man deal justly with his neighbors and as God is slow to anger so must man be tolerant and understanding of others for a man so for a nation this nation's domestic and foreign policy rest says surely as does your ancient religion upon the moral and practical imperatives of mercy compassion justice and tolerance this is why I say we must understand these teachings of the ancient days if we are to understand the yearnings and the aspirations of modern America. The prophets taught us that the rights a citizen enjoys do not come from the head of a state. But from the hand of God and that a state must not seek to substitute its will for that of God as God's will is revealed in the hearts and minds of its citizens this is the heart the core the essence of the democratic ideal This is the true definition of individual freedom the prophets taught us that no society can survive which does not recognize the supremacy of moral law and here again may I say that the teachings of the prophets of old or whether indeed Thomas Aquinas the great Catholic philosopher of the Middle Ages they are identical the power of the Moral Law over and above man made law and it was to the people to whom God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and these same people throughout the ages have faithfully reminded a forgetful world that a government of laws not of man provides the surest road to peace and tranquility for all peoples Yes the prophets believe that as a child of God Each man has inherent worth and infinite potentiality for moral growth that the righteousness of all nations or the righteous I should say of all nations are worthy of immortality ladies and gentlemen that is the definition of human dignity that we have molls that we write that we say the Bible last have we not one father has not one God created all of us this. Is the evidence in the proof of brotherhood that self-evident truth that all men are created equal that we repeat in our Declaration of Independence it really was not always so self-evident and I doubt that it was self-evident to everyone at the time the founders of this nation recorded that belief nor indeed has it ever been self evident to all mankind at any time in the history of mankind but the belief in the equality of all man in the sight of God has been a truth fundamental to our democratic way of life and fundamental to our religion over the ages it was that democratic impulse in Jewish history that democratic impulse in Jewish history is really where Judaism differed and it's that where America differs to so it is that our nation and your religion must share outrage at on equal treatment of equal human bein's as President Lyndon Johnson has recently observed when any citizen denies his fellow saying his color is not mine or his beliefs are strange and different in that very moment he trains America though his forebears created this nation of the prophets taught us in a sense that each man is responsible for every other man we are our brother's keeper the prophets first gave us that urge toward social justice which has long characterized your faith and has long been one of the most ennobling aspects of the American experience. The prophets came forth as advocates for the poor and the oppressed and became the first leaders in social reform admonishing your ancestors justice justice shalt thou pursue and thus this nation like your own faith is determined that man being made but little lower than the angels must not be degraded or defiled but rather must be treated it but but rather must be treated as what HE years is their handiwork of a divine creator I thought all Americans this is the motivating power and force behind all programs of social reform it is this great spiritual truth of the worthwhileness of man that should be the underpinning of every dream and every program to improve the lot of man the prophets taught us to respond to that ancient command of Deuteronomy and you remember it the poor shall never cease out of the land therefore I command the same power all shell churning opened by hand under the poor and needy brother in dialing and break tradition teaches that bless it is he that considerate the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble these words are every bit as true today as when they were saying this is what we mean by your mortal words eternal truths it hardly seems accidental that there is no special word Hebraic word for charity. Unless I'm misinformed as I understand it the same term in Hebrew which is sometimes used for charity is used interchangeably for justice kindness and indeed for righteousness itself and it is significant that good deeds those deeds which stem from the heart were not to be directed solely at one's coreligionists your forebears were told that and I quote again from the prophets we are required to feed the poor of the Gentiles as well as our Jewish spreading the Jewish social outlook resulted therefore in the development of distinctive institutions and arrangements to help the poor to become self-supporting rather than to subsist on charity this is the conviction in fact it is the central principle which underscores and characterizes the president's war on poverty in this year in one thousand nine hundred sixty five thank you how true it is that there is little that is new but how fortunate it is that there are these truths on which to build Jews who knew it first hand the devastating effects of going up in the ghettos in homes broken by war by program gave special emphasis to the age old sanctification of home and family and I was particularly on are today when in the citation the time that I was privileged to receive that honorary degree that it was quoted from something that I had written my dedication to home and to family and the inspiration that I had received from church community family and home because truly we all do if we are but the true with ourselves. And surely there can be no finer precedent no finer model for aid to the needy in foreign lands than the private programs which the American Jewish community has conducted so fervently and so successfully over the years maybe this is why I have attended so many of those great meetings when we've asked people to give so generously to help others unite Jewish just to mention one and many more I commend you for your generosity but above all I commend you for being true to the faith of your fathers this administration and this generation have come to recognize that without education there can be no social progress education that your Seaver university stands for education is the heart of progress and the guardian of freedom higher education advanced graduate study yes elementary and secondary education education is the fountain of strength it is the true strength of a modern nation and I wish to thank the trustees and the overseers of this great university for the contribution that you are making to the education of American youth to the educational betterment and advancement of this nation this recognition finds an echo in the fierce love of learning inculpated in your ancestors by the rabbis of old who were fond of saying that the entire world is poised on the breath of school children why to encourage learning those rabbis of old gave youngsters honey cakes shaped in the letters of the alphabet to associate learning with sweetness. Our children and our children's children will have reason to be grateful for a president who believes that wisdom is the principal thing in the America of the one nine hundred sixty S. as in the Palestine of ancient days water is sound rock upon which to live on which to build a great society the greatest programme of aid to education that any nation is ever known is now before the Congress of the United States thank you one and the private gifts of the American people as witnessed here tonight and in many other great meetings throughout this land demonstrating the love of learning man's oldest dream in man's newest hope is of course to live in peace a world in which nations shall not lift up sword against nation the their shell the war and. That's the finest disarmament speech that anyone has ever made throughout the history of mankind Thank you. And then the sages of old reminded us how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity this age old hope this vision of the prophets it finds its most ardent response in its most determined support in your America in this the twentieth century the greeting shown means not only peace but it implies a certain completeness a sense of well being something wonderful about Hebrew words they mean so much their full in their rich. We know when we believe now that a lasting peace must be secured before man may expect to pursue his fondest hopes and his aspirations Surely this the nuclear age with his whore with its on believable destructive force reminds us that man's first business his priority business is the pursuit of a just and enduring peace so you see we we share so much today your ancient faith in our young nation we share a belief in the fatherhood of God in the brotherhood of man and it's demonstrated by evidence a dedication of the supremacy of law a moral commitment to social justice and equality of opportunity we share a belief that mankind's best hope lies in education and acknowledge that God's most precious gift is the gift of peace when you celebrate the feast the poor Tim you will be retelling a tale which is woven with many of those common ideals and common threads you will be retelling the tale the right of a man or of a people to choose to be different as did Mordecai or and his people the obligation of one who is safe and secure as was Esther to respect safety for those that are less fortunate the refusal to bow before evil even if that evil land has as did Haman the seal of the state and the central a T. of the family and the social responsibility of the individual to those in need of help Yes it is a thoroughly Jewish holiday but pretend you Americans of all faiths might usefully reflect upon its meaning to this nation in these difficult and challenging O. S.. We live today in an America that's richer stronger more secure and more hopeful than. Any nation in all of the history of mankind what our privileged generation we are shirt laid this is the land of milk and honey to rival the promised land of the Old Testament but the American Jewish community like America itself as learned to live with a set of delicate balances as important to our society's structure as the balances of nature are to the creatures of God we have learned that in Ed in diversity in difference there can be unity President Johnson said throughout the veins of America flows the blood of all mankind and Jews like people of all religions and all races have made their great significant special contribution to the America of yesterday and today and we have learned that on question on qualified loyalty to this great country of ours America is wholly consistent with strong spiritual and emotional ties to an ancient land of Israel and we have learned that organized religion can have said the secular concerns without rejecting its spiritual underpinnings that principle is surely been followed here tonight in this great your Sheba you have also a stab least the Albert Einstein Medical College and Mr Samuel Golding whom you honor this evening has labored so faithfully to build this world renowned center of medical science and teaching. Living and a lasting memorial to his vision and his goodness you founded many colleges and graduate schools. The stern college so that women may participate fully in. The academic life of this university across the centuries in Dark Ages and times have been lightened that you each People have always kept the torch of learning burning brightly education is truly your star of david my you are to be proud of it how proud you should be thank you. You have come to understand that education helps liberate emancipate the human spirit helps man express the capabilities which are uniquely his creativity originality wisdom and understanding these bomb to man to no other Gods creatures but twentieth century America is today faced with a historic challenge a challenge which we must meet if our America is to survive or prevail in these perilous times let me put it to you in the form of question can we in America maintain a course of moderation and unity without becoming what the president has called the captive of a comfortable consensus and there are challenges as well to the American Jewish community challenges which are faithful for your survival as a people and as a religion can the American Jew continue to assimilate without sacrifice of his faith and tradition or risking an extra fee of those qualities of heart and mind which were the genesis of the distinctive Jewish contributions to the American experience only you can answer that. Here's one for all of us can America stand prosperity as it has stood adversity or must we suffer to be great Can the American Jew no longer spurred on by the chaos of the ghetto or the whip of intolerance maintain that remarkable pace of his drive towards a more just prosperous and meaningful life will he continue to speak out for liberal humanitarian progressive causes as he has so often in the past or will he value his new found social acceptance of his age old duty as stated by the prophets only we as individuals can answer those questions no man can give us of course the final answers to these questions we have no cloud by day nor pillar of fire by night to lead us or guide us to our promised land we have only the precepts of our own hearts the precepts of the prophets of the Judeo Christian tradition and heritage of thousand years in God's sight are but as yesterday as a watch in the night we are companions together on this earth but for a fleeting moment and that's why I have always believed that we are to make the most of every moment of every day of every hour thank you but I have a belief strong belief that if we hold fast to those precepts of those ancient prophets the eternal truths we can make our moment this very moment one of glory. Many of you have done that this evening while Mrs Humphrey and I were preparing to come to this great gathering I know what you have done you made a page in history for yourself you have made this moment one of your glory and we can make a mark upon our society we have this power and of this generation and upon our E. H. which is worthy of our common heritage and worthy in the sight of the Lord members of your Shiva university faculty trustee friends my fellow Americans it's in this spirit that I have spoken to night in that determination that we can make our mark upon society that we can have a moment of our glory in that determination and in that confidence that I gratefully accept. Your honor bestowed upon me of the congregation today thank you thank you thank you. The night. My wife. My. Wife. Was. Always my. Wife. Right. Right. Right right right right was. Saying you know my way now look at who's here oh oh.