Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, former president of the Rabbinical Council of America, and associate professor of political science and assistant to the president at Yeshiva University, was formally installed at Sabbath services yesterday as rabbi of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, considered one of the most influential Orthodox congregations in the United States. He succeeded Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits, now Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth.
Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of Yeshiva University, presided at the installation ceremony. Prior to his election to the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, Dr. Rackman was the rabbi, for 20 years of Congregation Shaarey Tefila, in Far Rockaway, Queens.
In his installation sermon, Rabbi Rackman noted the recent trend on the part of Jews to return from the suburbs to the cities, and warned that the returnees must beware, in the process, against “not only a weakening of religious commitment but also a failure to support many causes of Jewish survival.” He cautioned Jews in the urban communities to assume “civic responsibility.” saying such responsibility “entails a vigorous fight for better schools and better housing for all peoples, regardless of race, color or creed.”
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