Jimmy Carter photo

Jewish High Holy Days Message of the President.

September 11, 1979

My Fellow Americans:

As you celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the High Holy Days, Rosalynn and I send our warmest greetings to you as you gather together in homes and synagogues to welcome a new year.

I know that your liturgy for this sacred season includes prayers for reconciliation between neighbors and affirmation of life and recommitment, and at this time you reflect on eternal questions concerning life and death. The words of these services echo universal human concerns.

With you, we recommit ourselves to cherish the freedom of all peoples and to strive peacefully for its realization. With you, we pray, not for an escape from challenges, problems and decisions, but for the wisdom, insight and courage to choose wisely and bravely.

Let us strive to make common cause with decent people of all faiths and nations. Let us strive to preserve the values of our democracy and to broaden the areas of its blessings. Your religion, like mine, seeks to help all people learn to live in harmony with one another and with God. May the coming year bring us closer to the just and lasting peace for which we have yearned and prayed so long and bring to each of you new strength of faith and purpose.

JIMMY CARTER

Jimmy Carter, Jewish High Holy Days Message of the President. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/247882

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