Establishment of a chair of Judaic studies at Andover Theological School, of Newton Centre, the oldest graduate Protestant theological school in the country, has been announced by Dr. Roy Pearson, president of the institution. The chair will be named for the late Rabbi Albert Isaac Gordon who, at the time of his death last year, had been visiting professor of Judaism at Andover Newton for 16 years.
A drive to raise $450,000 to endow the chair has been launched, the funding to come primarily as memorial gifts from the Jewish community. The Andover Newton board of trustees has pledged $50,000 toward the chair, to be contributed when the initial $400,000 is reached. Before coming to Newton Centre in 1947 as rabbi of Temple Emanuel, Rabbi Gordon served Adath Jeshurun Synagogue in Minneapolis for 16 years and was active as a labor arbitrator for 23 Minnesota industries.
Dr. Pearson said that both the faculty and trustees of Andover Newton considered studies in Judaism an “integral part of Christian theological education, both in terms of extending the Jewish-Christian dialogue and of strengthening understanding of the basis of faith common to both traditions.” Andover Newton has traditional ties with the American Baptist Convention and the United Church of Christ but its current enrollment of 600 includes students from 20 Protestant denominations as well as some Catholics and Jews.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
