Recording of Radio Broadcast of a Speech by Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman at the “They Must Live” Rally at Boston Garden, October 11, 1947
Temple Israel of Boston Archives
Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman’s speech at the Boston Garden “They Must Live” rally on October 11, 1947 was delivered to a capacity crowd of more than 16,000 and broadcast on WNAC radio to tens of thousands more. Sponsored by the Combined Jewish Appeal, the rally opened the Appeal’s Greater Boston campaign to raise $9,100,000 to aid the 1,500,000 Jews in Europe uprooted by the war and the 250,000 in displaced persons camps, transport them to Palestine, and help create a Jewish state in Palestine. In his speech, Liebman argues that philanthropy is required “to save our brothers in refugee camps who are starving in body and mind,” and that we must give because of the many Jews and Christians who were war heroes who resisted the Nazis and sacrificed their lives to rescue Jews. “It is, indeed, for us to choose whether to finish Hitler’s work or to undo Hitler’s work.” He goes on to state that every Jew in Boston must help, not just now but in years to come, until all those suffering will be in Eretz Israel, the community of “Israel will be healed,” and Israel will be an independent state and “have a new freedom.” Boston Jews, he declares, “will be the co-builders of bridges from blood-drenched Europe to the rivers of Jordan. We will be opening the door of hope, and the bricks of our gold and silver will be milk and medicine for all the children of Israel. We are pioneers for the world for the redemption of Israel.”
Rabbi Leibman’s speech was considered a “high point” of the rally. Other speeches were given Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who would become the first president of the new State of Israel, Israel Friedlander, president of the Combined Jewish Appeal, Herman Gilman, general chairman of the Appeal, Boston’s temporary mayor, John B. Hynes, and Mrs. E. Geoffrey Nation, chairman of the Women’s Division of the Combined Jewish Appeal, along with other speakers and musical performers.
This recording, along with several hundred others that capture services, sermons, and other events from 1934-1979, have recently been digitized by the Temple Israel Archives. Free streaming access to these recordings is available via the Digital Commonwealth, The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), or by request from the Wyner Archives, Temple Israel of Boston. This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Image from The Jewish Weekly Times, October 16, 1947, courtesy of American Jewish Historical Society-New England Archives