The sons of five rabbis were among a record class of Reform Rabbis ordained this weekend by the Hebrew Union College -Jewish Institute of Religion, the oldest rabbinic seminary in America, at commencement exercises at Temple Emanu-El here today and on Friday and Saturday in Cincinnati. There are now 41 father-son teams in the reform rabbinate.
Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk, HUC-JIR president, awarded rabbinic degrees to a total of 56 new Reform spiritual leaders (43 in Cincinnati, 13 in New York), the largest class in the institution’s 99-year history. Also invested in New York were two cantors.
Rabbi Gottschalk stated that "a greater need than ever before exists today for rabbis in an era where Jewish families seek a closer identity with their past and look towards their spiritual leader for personal guidance in strengthening the Jewish family and the help to build it through Jewish ritual and education." He stressed that a strong synagogue and viable Jewish family represents the strongest weapon against assimilationism and mixed marriages.
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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.
