Rabbi Bertram Korn, senior rabbi at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, are of a heart attack last Tuesday while visiting in New Orleans. The 61-year-old rabbi, who lived in Wynecote, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, was senior rabbi of Keneseth Israel for more than 30 years. In World War II, he was the only Jewish chaplain in North China. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in July, 1975, the first Jewish chaplain to attain that rank.
A specialist on the role of American Jews in the Civil War, his 1951 book, “American Jewry and the Civil War, ” Was praised as the definitive study. Korn was a president of the American Jewish Historical Society and of the Association of Jewish Chaplains of the Armed Forces. He was also a former national chaplain of the Jewish War Veterans of America. He was a former assistant to the president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform seminary, and associate professor of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.