Speech
Remarks in Praise of Max Stern (1960)
Senators Lehman and Javits, my revered teacher Dr. Belkin, honored colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: It is my privilege to present to you a dear and cherished friend, Mr. Max Stern, the Orthodox candidate for the first Synagogue Statesman Award of the Synagogue Council of America. In Jewish as well as in general life, there are politicians, diplomats, and statesmen. The politician uses direct methods to get for the people what they want. The diplomat uses indirect, more refined ways of reaching the same goal. The statesman, however, is different in his very purpose. His aim is not primarily to satisfy the people’s wants, but to obtain for them what they need. He must be an educator – not a functionary; a leader – not an executive. Throughout his career of public service, Max Stern has been a statesman who has taken it upon himself to help provide for the spiritual needs of his fellow Jews. So notable is the reputation he has achieved, that people often associate his name with a college rather than a man. Indeed, more than a significant individual, he has well-nigh become an institution. In a manner that combines dignity with magnanimity, orderliness with compassion, high leadership with an amusing attention to detail, he has achieved the reputation of one of the most distinguished lay leaders of Orthodox Judaism in America and throughout the world.As President of New York's Jewish Center for five years, his ability and his devotion to the synagogue have won for him the admiration and respect of his rabbis and his colleagues. As a synagogue statesman, he has understood what our people truly need: education, learning. The ideal of our Tradition, VE-TALMUD TORAH K'NEGED KULAM, that study of Torah takes precedence over all other virtues, has mobilized all his many creative talents. He has become a builder and sustainer of Jewish schools on all levels. In the realm of higher education, he is, of course, the founder of the first and only Jewish wom…
