–Funeral services were held here today for Lily Edelman, editor, author and administrator of Jewish adult education programs, who died last Thursday in New York Hospital after a brief illness at the age of 65.
Mrs. Edelman was director of adult Jewish education for B’nai B’rith from 1961 to 1977 when she was named director of the B’nai B’rith lecture bureau, cosponsored by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.
At the time of her death, she was also editor of the ADL Bulletin, the ADL monthly publication, and of Face to Face, the ADL interreligious quarterly. She also was co-editor from 1961 to 1973 of the B’nai B’rith Heritage Classics Series and book editor of the B’nai B’rith National Jewish Monthly.
Before joining B’nai B’rith in 1957, she served as executive secretary of the National Academy for Adult Jewish Studies of the United Synagogue of America and from 1941 to 1950 was education director of the East and West Association founded by Pearl Buck. From 1950 to 1952, Mrs. Edelman was an
editor in the State Department overseas information program. She was a collaborator of Elie Wiesel and translator of his “Beggar from Jerusalem” and “One Generation After.” She was author of several travel books and writings on adult education. Among her books were “Israel, New People in an Old Land” and “The Sukkah and the Big Wind.”
A graduate of Hunter College, Mrs. Edelman earned an M.A. in English Literature in 1938 at Columbia University. She earned a Professional Diploma in Adult Education Administration from Teachers College of Columbia University in 1954.
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