Governor General Sir Patrick Allen last week officially proclaimed Education and Sharing Day in Jamaica.

Sir Patrick presented this year’s Education and Sharing Day proclamation to representatives of Chabad Jamaica, Rabbi Yaakov Raskin, Howard Levy, and Mark Rosenblum, during a ceremony on April 19.

During the meeting, the representatives of Chabad Jamaica highlighted the far-reaching impact of Menachem Mendel Schneerson on global humanitarian efforts, emphasising the importance of observing the Seven Noahide Laws an promoting acts of kindness.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th Century.

With a growing mental health crisis and crisis of purpose among young people, Education and Sharing Day seeks to highlight the critical need for moral and ethical education.

Some programmes encouraged nationwide on Education Day include a daily moment of silence at the beginning of a school day, when students can think and meditate about what their parents taught them, helping to focus them toward greater moral awareness; and the ARK (Acts of Random and Routine Kindness) initiative that encourages daily charitable giving and sharing.

Representatives of Chabad Jamaica will be distributing ARK-shaped charity boxes across Jamaica to encourage citizens to carry out acts of random and routine kindness.

The governor general’s personal contribution to the charity ARK box symbolises a collective dedication to both education and tangible efforts towards creating a more compassionate world.

In order to achieve its highest goals, it was noted that education must not only impart knowledge but also teach the students how to live, forming and strengthening their moral character to make a better life for themselves as individuals and for society as a whole.

Jamaica’s Education and Sharing Day proclamation reads: “AND WHEREAS the Rebbe taught that education should not be limited to the acquisition of knowledge, preparation for a career, or ‘to make a better living’, and we must think in terms of a ‘better living’, not only for the individual, but also for the society on a whole, therefore, the educational system must pay more attention to the building of character, with emphasis on moral and ethical values … .”

Education and Sharing Day was championed by the Rebbe. More than 40 years ago, the United States Congress passed a joint resolution and President Jimmy Carter signed into law a resolution to designate the Rebbe’s birthday as Education and Sharing Day. Each president since Carter, as well as many other country leaders, numerous local legislatures, governors and mayors have annually recognised the date corresponding to the Rebbe’s birthday, celebrated four days before Passover, as Education and Sharing Day.

The Rebbe was born in 1902 in present-day Mykolaiv, Ukraine and this year marks 122 years since his birth.

In his correspondence with Carter, the Rebbe laid out his vision of Education Day as a time to focus on “education in a broader and deeper sense, not merely as a process of

imparting knowledge and training for a “better living”, but for a “better life”, with due emphasis on character-building and moral and ethical values.

Everyone is encouraged to observe Education and Sharing Day through setting aside time to reflect on how to enhance the moral and ethical education of our youths and increasing in acts of goodness and kindness.