Funeral services were held yesterday at Congregation Chizuk Amuno here for Dr. Israel M. Goldman, a leader of Conservative Judaism and an activist in civil rights and adult Jewish education. Goldman, who died Friday at the age of 75, had been rabbi emeritus of the Baltimore congregation for the last two years after serving as its rabbi for 28 years.
President of the Rabbinical Assembly of America from 1946-1948, Goldman was the founder of the National Academy of Adult Jewish Education of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and served as its director from 1940-51. During most of that time he was the rabbi of Temple Emanu-El of Providence, R.I., the only other pulpit he had before coming to Baltimore in 1948.
His adult education activities set precedents for many Jewish communities in the U.S. His last published work, “Lifelong Learning Among Jews Adult Education in Judaism from Biblical Times to the Twentieth Century,” is a basic textbook for adult programs in this country.
ACTIVE IN CIVIL RIGHTS
Goldman was active in civil rights, working with the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black leaders. He was vice chairman of the Maryland Commission on Human Rights from its in caption in 1959 to 1969. He was also active in promoting better relations with Christians and was presiding chairman of the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Baltimore while also serving as president of the Baltimore while also serving as president of the Baltimore Board of Rabbis.
Born in Poland, Feb. 13, 1904, he was a graduate of the City College of New York and received both a master’s degree and his doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary from where he was also ordained as a rabbi. He received honorary degrees from the Seminary and Brown University.
Goldman was a former president of both the Baltimore and Providence districts of the Zionist Organization of America and was a vice president of the Baltimore branch of the American Jewish Congress He was a former president of the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland and from 1952 to 1955 was chairman of the Baltimore Community Self-Study.
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