Rabbi Icik Benkowitz, believed to be the nation’s oldest spiritual leader, passed away here after a brief illness, at the age of 109. Until a few months ago, he actively served as rabbi of two congregations in nearby Chelsea, daily walking more than a mile from his home to both houses of worship.
In 1955, when clergymen were permitted to apply for Social Security benefits. Rabbi Benkowitz, then 102, became the oldest applicant in the country to register. He was born in Lithuania on August 1, 1853, and served as an Orthodox rabbi in several cities in the Ukraine before coming to this country with his family just prior to World War I.
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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.
