Education and Sharing Day occurred this year on April 9, 2025, but what it represents, we should carry with us every day. Communities across the United States paused to reflect its meaning on the special date, but we can reflect its meaning throughout the year.
Education and Sharing Day is a tradition to honor Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This annual observance marked what would have been his 123rd birthday. The day serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative potential of education and the importance of imparting ethical values to the next generation.
The Rebbe, born in 1902 and passing in 1994, was a visionary leader who reshaped the landscape of education. Having endured the horrors of the Holocaust, he emerged with an unwavering belief in the potential of every individual. After settling in America, he built a movement, establishing schools, community centers, and Chabad houses that transcended borders and backgrounds.
Nationwide, the day echoes a call to invest in children with both heart and soul. Presidents, governors, and legislatures, including Alaska’s, have proclaimed Education and Sharing Day, a tradition rooted in Congressional recognition from 1978.
Education extends beyond facts and figures—it includes cultivating character, compassion, and a commitment to justice.
The day reminds us that although teachers prepare students to be scholars, it is our job as parents, grandparents, mentors, and members of our communities to teach students to be good neighbors and engaged citizens. Education is both a tool to enlighten the mind and to enrich the soul.
This year’s commemoration underscores that education, while the bedrock of opportunity, requires more than academic rigor. It highlights values like kindness, integrity, and resilience in the face of social pressures that we must teach our children and young people. These principles will strengthen and guide them into their future.
Allow me to share a simple truth: our strength as a nation lies not just in our laws or our economy, but in the character of our people. When we educate our youth with purpose, instilling values of honesty, empathy, and resilience, we are building a society and a country that will endure. When we share our time, our vision, our principles, our compassion with children and students, we will weave a fabric of unity across these United States that no challenge can tear apart.
So today and every day, I ask you to join in honoring the Rebbe’s legacy by imparting the rich truths
we’ve stored in our hearts with the youth around us to help ensure their future is wholesome and strong and our republic free and flourishing.
Based on Senate floor speech by Senator Hughes, April 9, 2025
