City Marks ​“Education And Sharing Day”

Several dozen members of New Haven’s growing Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic Orthodox Jewish community gathered outside City Hall to celebrate the anniversary of the birthday of the movement’s spiritual leader — and to receive an official mayoral proclamation honoring the day as one dedicated to learning and good deeds.

The celebration began at around noon outside of the main Chabad Lubavitch synagogue at 292 Norton St.

According to one of the parade’s participants, Avi Meer, upwards of 50 people drove with a police escort from Norton Street in Beaver Hills down Whalley and over to City Hall, where they received a proclamation signed by Mayor Justin Elicker.

The proclamation (pictured below) recognized Friday as ​“Education and Sharing Day” in honor of the anniversary of the birth of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Schneerson, who was born in 1902 and died in 1994, is ​“described by many as a visionary spiritual leader whose teachings promoted education as the corner for universal justice,” the mayoral proclamation reads in part. It heralds Schneerson, often referred to just as the Rebbe, as ​“devoted to the global advancement of education grounded in moral and ethical values as a prerequisite for flourishing as a free and tolerant nation with dignity and justice for all.”

Meer praised the mayor for issuing the proclamation, and city police for providing an escort for the parade from Norton Street to downtown. ​“We in New Haven have so much tremendous good that’s going on, and so much that we struggle with as well,” he said. 

He said recognizing Friday as Education and Sharing Day in New Haven, as its been recognized by the White House since 1978, encourages youth of all backgrounds to value love, compassion, and teaching, which he said are ​“really fundamental for a free and prosperous society.”