Rabbi Bernard Mandelbaum has been appointed president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, according to an announcement made today by Dr. Louis Finkelstein, chancellor of the Seminary, and president of its faculties. The post of president of the 80-year old institution, academic and spiritual center of the Conservative movement in Judaism, had always been combined with the presidency of the faculties until 1952, when Dr. Finkelstein, fourth president of the Seminary, was named chancellor. Rabbi Mandelbaum is the first to fill the newly-defined post of president.
Rabbi Mandelbaum joined the faculty of the Seminary in 1946 as registrar of the Seminary’s rabbinical school. He was appointed dean of students in 1951, and provost of the Seminary in 1959. Editor and author of a number of scholarly works, he has also taught in the rabbinical department, most recently as reader in Midrash and Seminary professor of homiletics.
Filling the post of president at this time, according to Dr. Finkelstein, is part of a program to strengthen top administration in order to prepare for the planned expansion of the institution. He also announced the appointment of Rabbi David O. Kogen, formerly assistant to the chancellor, to the newly created post of administrative vice-chancellor, and of Rabbi Eugene Weiner as director of the Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Talmudic Ethics. In the past year, the Seminary raised $12, 000, 000 toward a $35, 000, 000 building and endowment goal.
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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.
