President Donald J. Trump Honors the Rebbe, Proclaims April 9 'Education and Sharing Day, USA'

President Donald J. Trump today proclaimed the birthday of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, as Education and Sharing Day, USA, paying homage to the Rebbe’s life, legacy and vision for humanity.

“This Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A, we draw inspiration from … Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson,” the President wrote. “ … All Americans can learn from his tireless devotion to teaching, good deeds, and charity.”

Noting the Rebbe’s stature as “a transformational teacher” and “spiritual force” who revived the worldwide Jewish community in the wake of the Holocaust, Trump also paid tribute to the Rebbe’s emissaries “dedicated to spreading Jewish awareness, education and kindness in communities around the world” who continue to “serve as beacons of the Rebbe’s teachings and boundless love for all humanity.”

In the proclamation, Trump recalled his visit to the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place in Queens, on Oct. 7, 2024, during which the President “drew spiritual guidance and replenishment from his voice and message.”

The President referenced those who joined him during the visit to the Rebbe’s Ohel, including the family members of American Edan Alexander—who is currently being held hostage by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza—and Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski.

“My commitment to combating [antisemitism] is unwavering,” he declared. “My Administration has made great strides in bringing home all hostages captured during the murderous and criminal Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and to securing peace and stability for the Jewish people in their homeland and around the world.”

The presidential proclamation concludes:

“The First Lady and I encourage all Americans to reflect upon the Rebbe’s teachings,” Trump wrote. “His inestimable dedication and unwavering example have become woven into the very fabric of our Nation and its character. His memory remains a blessing to the world.”

President Donald J. Trump visited the Ohel of the Rebbe on Oct. 7, 2024, during which he “drew spiritual guidance and replenishment from his voice and message.”

American Tradition Since 1978

Former President Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. leader to proclaim the 11th of Nissan, the date on the Hebrew calendar of the Rebbe’s birthday in 1902, as Education and Sharing Day, USA, a bipartisan tradition that every president has continued since. States and municipalities throughout the country likewise mark Education and Sharing Day with a proclamation honoring the Rebbe’s enduring legacy and conversations highlighting the foundational importance of moral and ethical education to society at large. This year the Rebbe’s birthday falls out on April 9.

In underlining the significance of a day dedicated to thinking about education, the Rebbe explained in 1978 that while the timing of the president’s proclamation was a tribute to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, “it is a fitting and timely tribute to the cause of education in general, focusing attention on what is surely one of the Nation’s top priorities.

“It is fitting indeed that the USA has shown, through a forceful example to the world, that it places education among its foremost priorities,” the Rebbe said. “It is also to be hoped that ‘Education Day’ will become a permanent institution, especially since, by reason of the pervasive nature of education, it would lend further significance to other ‘Days’ such as Father’s Day and Mother’s Day and similar institutions which have become part of American life.”

The Rebbe taught that “education … should not be limited to the acquisition of knowledge and preparation for a career, or, in common parlance, ‘to make a better living.’” Instead, emphasis must be placed on personal obligations of justice and morality, which are the basis of any human society. “The educational system must, therefore, pay more attention, indeed the main attention, to the building of character, with emphasis on moral and ethical values.”