Harry H. Epstein and the rabbinate as conduit for change

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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 26, 2024 | History

Harry H. Epstein and the rabbinate as conduit for change

Harry H. Epstein (1903- ) served as a model of the Modern Orthodox and then Conservative rabbinate in the south during a career that spanned six decades. Epstein, who was educated especially at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary (later Yeshiva University), the famed Slobodka Yeshiva, and Emory University, was greatly influenced by his father, Ephraim, the dean of Chicago's Orthodox rabbinate, and his uncle, Moshe Mordecai, head of the Slobodka Yeshiva in Lithuania and then in Palestine.

The rabbi won election to the pulpit of Atlanta's Congregation Ahavath Achim in 1928. The young man, fluent in English and Yiddish, attempted to prove himself to the traditionalists while energizing the acculturating generation with an entire complement of activities and innovations binding them to Judaism. To varying degrees, Epstein's thoughts and actions mirrored those of Bernard Revel, Leo Jung, Mordecai Kaplan, and Abraham Isaac Kook.

He had to change with the needs of his constituency and evolving circumstances, while balancing alterations in relation to the ideals he held most dear. An ardent Zionist, he early decried Hitler and the Holocaust.

  1. This volume illustrates the life, thought, and actions of a pulpit rabbi who was important as a regional role model and who was largely removed from the centers of power. With the use of interviews and extensive manuscripts, the book places Epstein in the context of his times and in relation to the evolving nature of the American rabbinate.

Throughout his career, Harry H. Epstein functioned as a spiritual leader, adjudicator, educator, author, speaker, administrator, fundraiser, maintainer of tradition, and catalyst for change. He opened the path for his congregants' greater involvement in local, national, and international religious affairs. Under his tutelage, Ahavath Achim became the largest Conservative congregation in the south, and one of the largest in the country.

Rabbi Epstein advocated civil rights for African Americans and greater understanding among all. In many ways Epstein typified the denominational rabbinate of the twentieth century and how it impacted, and was impacted by, social, economic, and educational advances, generational changes, acculturation, suburbanization, professionalization, and international affairs.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
160

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Cover of: Harry H. Epstein and the rabbinate as conduit for change
Harry H. Epstein and the rabbinate as conduit for change
1994, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Associated University Presses
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-154) and index.

Published in
Rutherford, N.J, London

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
296.8/342/092, B
Library of Congress
BM755.E687 B39 1994, BM755.E687B39 1994

The Physical Object

Pagination
160 p. :
Number of pages
160

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1745605M
Internet Archive
harryhepsteinrab0000baum
ISBN 10
0838635415
LCCN
92055112
OCLC/WorldCat
29033345
Library Thing
3717854
Goodreads
1848625

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July 26, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
October 17, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
March 25, 2013 Edited by Susan Tillotson Bunch merge authors
December 4, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Added subjects from MARC records.
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page