O G-d of all men, bless this assembly here gathered to do honor to every citizen’s inalienable right to an adventure in the halls of learning. Bless, with Your charity, the officials of the government of the State and of the City of New York and the members of the Board of Education, through whose devotion and dedication to their high duty this ceremony has been made possible. O Fountain of Wisdom and Source of all Learning, endow the administration and the faculty of the school here to be built with the Divine gift of teaching their students the noble aspects of the cultures of humanity and the science of nature, so that these generations of citizens-to-come will understand that Nature is almost human, and Man is natural.Grant these educators skill, and understanding, insight and humaneness, teach them to teach others that Man must never become complacent and self-satisfied, but must constantly search for a better and higher life, so that their students will be pleased with their teachers and displeased with themselves.We beseech You, O Lord of the Universe and Origin of all Knowledge, to lend Divine aid to all those affiliated with this noble project, so that the school whose foundations we are laying today will be built around the framework of Democracy, grounded in the spirit of the Bill of Rights, reinforced with the indomitable pioneer-courage of our Founding Fathers, and will contain within it an atmosphere of learning saturated with faith in the Justice and Charity of G-d and loyalty to the constitution of thisour country. Amen.

I can remember when I was in the position you boys are in now. It wasn’t so very long ago that I graduated from elementary school, and the only thing I really remember clearly is that I couldn’t wait until the long-winded speakers finished their talks and the fun started. So, you see, I can really sympathize with you – and therefore I will make every attempt to keep my talk as short as possible. What I want to give you is what I think is the best prescription for clean, healthy, successful, God-fearing American living. You boys are starting out on your high school careers now – you are at the beginning of your adolescence. Adolescence is a time when you can have a lot of fun and when you can build your bodies, your minds, and your characters. But it is also a dangerous age – and if you realize that beforehand, then you will be ready to accept my personal prescription for a character-tonic which will brace you for the long, exciting, and dangerous adventures ahead of you. The first ingredient in that prescription is hope. Hope is a very rare commodity these days. You are growing up into a very unstable world. People may laugh and joke and spend much time, money, and energy on entertainment – but deep down, underneath, people are very frightened. This is an age when people jump at their own shadows – they see atom bombs falling from every corner of the sky and they see spies under every bed. It may be true that things aren’t quite what they should be – but you can accomplish absolutely nothing by despairing. Once you give up hope, you can never hope to win. I know there’s a Cold War that may become a hot war, there’s a danger of inflation, and there are many other troubles. But you boys are young – you must be determined that you are going to set things aright when you get the chance. I am reminded of the story of the old gentleman who came upon a baseball game between two sandlot teams. He watched for a while and noticed the team at bat hitting some long drives, man…

Almighty God, send Thy blessings upon this assembly – upon administrators and faculty, students and guests. In Thy goodness, make this occasion for the graduates a commencement of a career filled with service, and a life charged with meaningfulness. May the young men and women now being graduated become Thy ambassadors of healing. May pharmacy become for them more than a profession – may it be a form of Divine service; more than a career – a calling; more than a livelihood – a life-giving devotion. May Thy outstretched arm, O Lord, guide and steady their hands. May they learn to compound wisdom with science, generosity with efficiency, and kindness with accuracy. May Thy goodness permeate their hearts, and may Thy wisdom penetrate their minds. And do Thou give long and happy years of health to these, the guardians of health. Amen.

Avinu she’ba’shamayim – our Father in Heaven: do Thou bestow Thy divine blessings upon all those here gathered – them, their families, and our great country whose democratic mission is enhanced by the services they perform. Teach us that Thy word must be heard not only in sanctuaries but in the marketplace as well; that it is to be evoked in church and synagogue, but implemented in home and in office, in factory and in bank. Teach us to be aware of Thy will in every phase of our lives; to be devout not only when we pray but also when we engage in commerce; to achieve noble integrity even whilst we pursue our livelihood, to the end that the blessing of peace and tranquility, of serenity and harmony, be ours at all times. Remind us that we deal with more than monies and materials – but also with men and women, possessed of immortal souls. Help us thereby to spread kindness and gentleness, honor and decency, so that our labors and talents be used for the good of our country, the betterment of our fellow man, and the service of Thee our G‑d. Help us to remember at all times that life is a trust, that our years are given to us on credit, that we must invest heavily in faith in G‑d and decency towards man, and that only through righteous deeds can we forge a bond to Thee, O Lord. For we were created in Thy image, and our mission in life is to imitate, but never impersonate, Thee. May the practical prose of our professional lives be graced with the poetry of pure intentions and the principles of peace and piety. May this be Thy blessing upon us. Amen.

One of the things mentioned by the Mishnah, in addition to the first ten items that were created erev Shabbat bein hashmashot, is the burial place of Moses – קבורתו של משה. What a strange thought! What the Tanna is trying to teach us, I believe, is how to stabilize our views and our assessments of our fellow men. He is trying to help us avoid succumbing to the danger of extremes in our evaluation of others, especially after they have died. Consider the extraordinary case of Moses. An unbiased reading of the Torah leads us to the startling conclusion that he was probably one of the most unpopular leaders in the history of mankind. His people were afraid of him and had little love for him. He literally had to force them out of slavery and into freedom. No matter what untoward event occurred, they blamed him. Jewish tradition even maintains that they accused him of some of the vilest crimes in the annals of mankind – not excluding adultery. He had to defend himself explicitly against implied charges of graft, bribery, and theft. This holiest of all men, this chief of all prophets, was treated with utter contempt and apparently without a shred of acknowledgement or appreciation of his unparalleled greatness. He was resented, disliked, hated. Yet as soon as he died, the Israelites experienced a sudden and radical change of heart. We are told that God Himself buried Moses and did not allow his burial place to be known – ויקבור אותו בגי... ולא ידע איש את קבורתו. Why so? Because, our Sages tell us, God was afraid that the sudden wave of admiration for Moses by the people would have evil consequences – the adulation might lead to idolatry and worship. God did not want Moses, the great teacher of monotheism and the great enemy of idolatry, to become himself an object of worship. So the feelings of the Israelites for Moses ran from one extreme to the other – from hatred to worship, from contempt to idolization. Before he died, they wished he would; after he died, they were di…

It is a double act of friendship which brings me here this afternoon – friendship for the Director Emeritus of the Roosevelt School, Dan Trotzky and his beloved wife Rhoda, to whom I wish many years of health and creativity on behalf of the community and the various charities to which he has dedicated his life; and profound and affectionate devotion to my friend Martin Schwarzschild, to whom I wish good luck and undiminished success on this new stage in his career as he takes over the reins of the Roosevelt School. He will, I am confident, make it the most eminent school of its kind in the country.There is always an inherent danger in commencement addresses—that of excessive solemnity. A graduation speaker sometimes feels that he has to distill all the world’s wisdom into the short time allotted to him, lest the poor graduates go into life uninstructed.Every tiine I feel that I am about to succumb to this sin of solemnity, I remember the gist of the commencement address given several years ago at a Western University by a distinguished citizen of this country, Bob Hope. The famous humorist told the assembled graduates and guests, "I am supposed to give you advice about how to go out into the world. So let me give it to you: Don’t! Last week I was there, and it is a mess.”I have the same report to bring you. I have been out there in the world quite recently, and it is an unholy mess. Part of that messiness is the pro­found suspicion that separates youth from the adult "establishment,” and it is that which I wish to discuss with you.I suppose that a certain amount of tension between the settled genera­tion and the emerging one is endemic to human society. It has always been so, and always will. But never before in human history, to my knowledge, has the hostility, the lack of communication, been as deep and as perilous as it is in our times.Now, I have not come here this afternoon to pass judgment on what is known, quite correctly, as the "youth revolution.” It is an…

It goes without saying that it is that common vision of Torah which we call "Centrist Orthodoxy" that unites us here today. But. we ought to bear in mind what Carl Becker, the great American historian, once said. "It is important, every so often, to look at the things that go without saying to be sure that they are still going." I would add the need for intellectual vigilance to this reminder for practical caution by paraphrasing his aphorism: "It is important, every so often, to look at what we are saying about the things that go without saying to make sure we know what we are talking about." In reflecting on some of the foundations of our Weltanschauung, I do not presume to be imparting new information. The task I have set for myself is to summarize and clarify, rather than to innovate. Dr. Johnson once said that it is important not only to instruct people but also to remind them. I shall take his sage advice for this discourse. We seem to be suffering from a terminological identity crisis. We now call ourselves "Centrist Orthodoxy." There was a time, not too long ago, when we referred to ourselves as "Modern Orthodox." Others tell us that we should call ourselves simply "Orthodox," without any qualifiers, and leave it to the other Orthodox groups to conjure up adjectives for themselves. I agree with the last view in principle, but shall defer to the advocates of "Centrist Orthodoxy" for two reasons: First, it is the term that today has greatest currency, and second, it is a waste of intellectual effort and precious time to argue about titles when there are so many truly significant issues that clamor for our attention. In no way should the choice of one adjective over the other be invested with any substantive significance or assumed to be a "signal" of ideological position. We are what we are, and we should neither brag nor be apologetic about it. These days, we do more of the latter than the former, and I find that reprehensible. Let us be open and forthright …

The festival of Hanukkah, but recently concluded, is centered about the מנורה – celebrating the victory of the Israelites over the oppressive Greek‑Syrians. The origin of the מנורה goes back to Moses, who was commanded by God to construct it. I want to share with you a rather strange legend about the מנורה: Moses had difficulty with the divine instruction to construct the מנורה in the Tabernacle – משה נתקשה במעשה המנורה עד שהראה לו הקב"ה מנורה של אש... What did the Sages mean to teach us with this comment? What made them attribute to Moses difficulties which even a beginner would not have, so clear and explicit are the Biblical instructions? I believe that one major problem perturbed them: מנורה yields mixed signals; is symbol two apparently conflicting values — beauty/spirituality. The very loving attention Torah showered on details ornamentation מנורה is sufficient evidence its status as work unblemished art. In course time, generations Jews came to revere מנורה as Jewish symbol of beauty. At same time, pure flame of מנורה made of מנורה itself the ultimate symbol spirituality/רוח. Thus, Zechariah envisions a מנורה, exclaims, כי לא בחיל ולא בכח כי אח .ברוחי אמר ה״צ. Now, these two values suggested by the מנוחה, beauty and spirit, da not at all seem compatible. Beauty is external, it speaks to appearances. Spirit is inwardness, it reflects essence, not appearance. Beauty is enchanting, spirit is enduring. Beauty thrives in revelation — artist seeks exposure; spirit shuns public scrutiny and flourishes only in concealment, in the closed chambers of the heart, shy and shame-faced. In course history, symbols expanded: not only beauty but all worldly knowledge; & spirit=sacred, Jewish teaching. And these two as well — considered incompatible, irreconci1eable. Yet the מנורה implies both; hence difficulty experienced by Sages/Moses. How indeed construct this center-piece for the Temple when it in and of itself is a contradiction? Hence, the מנוחה required the direct…