A student sermon competition honoring a prominent rabbi, social justice advocate and Cornell alumnus concluded with an awards gala May 1 in the Physical Sciences Building's Baker Portico.

The Harold I. Saperstein '31 Cornell Student Topical Sermon Contest was initiated by Norman Turkish '56, MBA '60, who wanted to ensure the university's Jewish community recognized the connections between the teachings of their tradition and the tenets of social justice.

Fourteen students entered the inaugural competition, sponsored by Cornell United Religious Work and open to all undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students.

The students presented their original 12- to 18-minute sermons over eight weeks at services in Anabel Taylor Hall. Contestants were asked to relate the themes of selected passages from Exodus, Leviticus and the Prophets to contemporary social justice issues.

Saperstein's sermons during the 1930s raised awareness of increasing anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe after he served as a delegate to the World Zionist Congress in Geneva. He was a chaplain in the European Theater during World War II, and after the war he denounced Soviet repression of Jews, was active in the American civil rights movement and visited Jewish communities in more than 80 countries.

The competition attracted student participation from across campus, including entrants from the Forensics Society and the Department of Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The weekend of the gala also brought several alumni and members of the Ithaca Jewish community to campus.

In his opening remarks at the gala, emcee Marc Moller '61, J.D. '63, said that Saperstein was a master sermon writer. "All of us can apply paint to a canvas, but few of us can create art," he said.

Saperstein's son, Marc, registered his surprise at the current student interest in sermonizing and noted that the Jewish tradition allows anyone, not just rabbis, to sermonize. University Archivist Elaine Engst '72 related stories from Harold Saperstein's undergraduate career, which was marked by high grades, several different majors and active involvement with the Jewish community on campus. Noam Neusner, former primary speechwriter for President George W. Bush, also spoke at the gala.

Matthew Scheff '13, a rabbi's son and mechanical engineering student who serves on the Student Assembly, won the grand prize in the competition and an $1,800 check. He also delivered his sermon on the concept of love in holy scripture and the Jewish tradition, centered on a reading from Shir Hashirim, also known as Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon.

Love is "one of the highest ideals in Judaism," Scheff said in his sermon. "Love is supposed to be present in basically every part of our lives. We are supposed to serve God out of love, not only fear. We are supposed to respect every person around us and help them as much as possible. We know what it is like to be mistreated, so we are commanded to make sure that others are not."

Second- and third-prize plaques went to Aaron Levy '11 and Emily Zhang '11. All 14 contestants were given copies of "Witness From the Pulpit," a collection of Saperstein's topical sermons from 1933-1980.