Funeral services were held today for Rabbi Samuel Berliant, founder and former president of the Rabbinical Council of America, who died yesterday after a short illness. He was 67 years old. Rabbi Berliant was the rabbi of Congregation Tifereth Israel in Jackson Heights, New York, for 58 years. Born in Richmond, Va., he studied at the Rabbi Isaac Eichanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University and was ordained there in 1929. In 1968 Yeshiva University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees.
During the late 1930’s, Rabbi Berliant was one of a small group who organized the Rabbinical Council of America. He served in various offices and was national president from 1950 to 1952. He served as chairman of its Chaplaincy Procurement Committee and was also a member of the Chaplaincy Commission of the National Jewish Welfare Board. He is credited with having organized the voluntary draft of chaplains, which was adopted by all major Orthodox seminaries in this country during the Korean War.
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