Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

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- A MESSAGE TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 1 94 2 - - Once again as azure skies and verdant nature herald the approach of the summer season, our thoughts turn from books and examinations and graduation requirements to the long awaited, happy day of Commence- ment. After four years of hard and conscientious effort, you, young men of the class of 1942, are ready to take your place by the side of those thou- sands who have preceded you in the course of the twenty-four years that have elapsed since the first Talmudical Academy graduation in 1919. On this ioyous occasion in young lives, when you have reached an im- portant milestone in the course of your preparation for the fulness of the days to come, I am happy to greet you and to wish you well. You have completed successfully the course of the Yeshiva High School - some with great distinction - all with credit to yourselves and to our institution. Du- ring the four most formative years of your lives you have been taught not only the required secular subiects, the languages and the sciences and the social studies, but also by precept and example, the message and the meaning of our priceless heritage, the concepts, teachings, traditions and ideals of universal Israel. Whether you choose as your life work some phase of the domain of human knowledge and dedicate yourselves to study and teaching, whether you give your energies to the fields of daily human needs or devote your- selves to the realm of the Spirit, remember the philosophy and the way of life that you have been taught here. Though the problems that you, as Jews, must face in this confused world are not always clear, you must, each and all of you, cling to those elements of our cultural past that have made us great as a people. It is upon these cultural backgrounds which are strongly rooted in our study of the Torah, and not upon false values and strange ideologies that you must build your personalities and your future lives. You, graduates of the Talmudical Academy high school, are pioneers. You have had an education different from that of the remainder of the Jewish youth in this country. You have had an opportunity to learn the value and significance of intensive Jewish study, for a deeper and truer understanding of the Jewish consciousness and soul. With this great com- mon bond, you are strengthened to withstand the material influences of 7

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- A MESSAGE TO THE CLASS OF JUNE, 1942 - My dear young friends: You, the graduates of the Talmudical Academy of 1942 are not for- tunate enough to commence your transition from boyhood into manhood in time of peace and tranquility. One of the most brutal and barbaric wars has broken out. A conflagration, unparalleled in the history of mankind, has spread throughout the four corners of the world. The flame and sword of paganism swept western civilization, and democracy is fighting its bat- tle for life. Still, you, the sons and pride of the Yeshiva, are the most for- tunate and the best prepared of the present younger generation. You were taught in the Yeshiva of the eternal struggle between brute force and spiritual ideals, between matter and spirit, between the everlasting Book of G-d and the sword. We, Jews, have always put our faith in the universal iustice of our Creator and in the final triumph of spiritual values over the materialistic conception of history. No sooner had the world lost its faith in the G-d of Israel and in the divine pinciples and universal truths of the Torah than it has also lost its humanitarian ideals, its faith in the dignity , in the infinite worth and free spirit of every man. Such ideals can exist as long as we believe in the divine origin of humanity and the divine Providence of the Almighty. ln the four walls of the Yeshiva you received together with your sec- ular education, a spiritual and religious interpretation of our history. You must remain steadfast in the religious beliefs, in the mode of living and in the ethical and spiritual convictions which are the essence and guiding principle of our lives. It is only by the immortal truths of the Torah and our sacred traditions, by being true to ourselves and our sacred heritage that we can best serve our fellowmen and help preserve the American democracy. Godliness as the foundation of our life, obedience to divine Law of the Torah and usefulness for the common good of our democratic form of government are fundamental parts of the training of a Yeshiva man. Samuel Belkin, Dean of the Yeshiva. 6

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the time, less prone to fall prey to the disintegrating forces which are threatening to sweep away everything that is dear and precious in life. Strengthen that bond, united, assert yourselves and your influence in the lives of our youth, so that by your example you may. effect. that. these twenty-four years of the Talmudical Academy shall not have been in vain, but that the instruction and the inspiration you received here shall be a blessing to you and to those who are to be influenced by you. Continue to be one with the Yeshiva, to accept and to feel its influence. Unite un- der the banner of the ideals for which your school stands, so that its spirit may widen and deepen, a current of faith and culture in American Jewry. Shelley R. Safir May, l942. 8