Education is the most essential ingredient in the development of humanity.

 

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, taught that education cannot be limited to the mere acquisition of knowledge—it must also focus on building virtuous character. By teaching the youth moral and ethical values they are given the solid foundation upon which their knowledge can stand, motivating them to use their amassed knowledge for the betterment of society and not to its detriment.

 

In the late 1970s, representatives of the state and federal governments and legislatures recognized that the Rebbe’s emphasis on education has been of great benefit for the wider public of the United States and, indeed, the world. As a result, the U.S. House of Representatives declared 1977 as a national “Year of Education.” In April of the following year, Congress passed a joint resolution to proclaim the Rebbe’s seventy-sixth birthday as “Education Day, U.S.A.” and President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation into law.

 

Since 1978, Education Day, U.S.A. has become an annual national event, spearheaded each year with a new proclamation by the president calling on all Americans to increase energy and dedication to the education of their youth. This important date has also been instituted at the local city, county and state level across the country, with many mayors and the governors of all 50 states calling on their citizens to do the same.

 

With the Rebbe’s urgent message positively impacting people around the world in growing number, in subsequent years, many more countries (Canada, England, France, Australia, Jamaica, among others) chose to honor the Rebbe’s contribution to their society by recognizing his birth date as a time to reflect on the importance of ethical character building and moral education.