Funeral services were conducted at Temple Sinai this afternoon for Rabbi Jay Kaufman, 52, executive vice-president of B’nai B’rith, who died Thursday night of pneumonia after an illness of several months. He had been in the hospital for 11 days. B’nai B’rith International cancelled its Board of Governors meeting scheduled for the weekend. B’nai B’rith president, Dr. William A. Wexler said: “Rabbi Kaufman brought deep commitment and inspiration to the councils of B’nai B’rith. His judgment and vision were reinforced by an eloquence that made him a natural leader of men. He was proud of Jewish tradition and aspiration. He imbued his activities and his words with that pride and he left a lasting impact on the Jewish community he served so nobly. His death diminishes us.”
As executive director of the service organization, Rabbi Kaufman supervised special programs for teenagers and collegians, vocational counseling and adult education, civil rights and intergroup activities, civic and veterans’ services, public affairs programs and philanthropy. Born in Cleveland, he was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1946 and received an honorary degree from it two months ago. Rabbi Kaufman was a founder of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, chairman of the Jewish Education Committee of the World Conference of Jewish Organizations, a governor of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and chairman of its Committee on Israel, vice president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and a member of the boards of the Synagogue Council of America, the National Jewish Welfare Board, the Zionist Organization of America and other groups. He lived in Chevy Chase, Md.
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.
