HR0903 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0903 LRB093 22002 HSS 50661 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate Rabbi Meir Shapiro on the occasion of his retirement after 40 years of service as principal at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School; and

WHEREAS, Rabbi Shapiro, the son of the late Rabbi Dr. Joseph and Bluma Shapiro, was raised in Pittsburg, where his father served as the revered spiritual leader of a prominent synagogue; and

WHEREAS, In addition to having earned a Master's Degree in Educational Supervision, Rabbi Shapiro received his rabbinic ordination in 1956, from Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, widely recognized as one of the greatest Torah scholars of the past century; and

WHEREAS, Rabbi Shapiro has served the students of Arie Crown Hebrew Day School with devotion to the development of each individual, for the past 40 years; during that time, Arie Crown Hebrew Day School has tripled in size to more than 600 students and become one of the most prominent and successful Jewish day schools in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Rabbi Shapiro has served as a role model for the intellectual, spiritual, moral, and character development of his students; he has been a mentor to hundreds of teachers, and has been a positive influence in the lives of thousands of young Jewish men and women, many of whom have become leaders in the Chicago Jewish community and beyond; and

WHEREAS, Rabbi Shapiro and his wife, Elizabeth Fischer Shapiro, have 2 children, Leah and Hillel, who both attended and graduated from Arie Crown Hebrew Day School; Rabbi and Mrs. Shapiro are the proud grandparents of 13 children; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Shapiro served Arie Crown Hebrew Day School as an involved parent, rising through the ranks to serve as president of the Parent Teacher Association, and she has also served for many years as the supervisor of early childhood education for the Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, On Sunday, June 6, 2004, Rabbi and Mrs. Shapiro will be honored by those whose lives he has touched, and who will be forever grateful for his special and lifelong dedication to education, with a banquet and other festivities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Rabbi Meir Shapiro on the occasion of his retirement after 40 years of dedicated service as principal at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Rabbi Meir Shapiro as an expression of our respect and esteem.