Item 5621. YAKAR LE’MORDECAI =[YEKAR LE-MORDEKHAI]: JUBILEE VOLUME IN HONOR OF RABBI MORDECAI WAXMAN: ESSAYS ON JEWISH THOUGHT, AMERICAN JUDAISM, AND JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS

YAKAR LE’MORDECAI =[YEKAR LE-MORDEKHAI]: JUBILEE VOLUME IN HONOR OF RABBI MORDECAI WAXMAN: ESSAYS ON JEWISH THOUGHT, AMERICAN JUDAISM, AND JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS

Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Pub. House; New York: Temple Israel Of Great Neck, 1998. Item #27954

Hardcover, 8vo, x, 394 pages, portrait, 24 cm. SUBJECT (S) : Judaism. Christianity and other religions -- Judaism. Judaism -- Relations -- Christianity. Judaism -- United States. Includes bibliographical references. Other Titles: Yekar le-Mordekhai. Waxman (1917-2000) was a “U. S. Conservative rabbi, interfaith activist. Waxman was born in Albany, N. Y. , and received his B. A. From 1937. In 1941, he was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary , which awarded him an honorary D. D. In 1968. After serving as rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Niagara Falls, N. Y. , he became founding rabbi of North Park Congregation Shaare Tikvah in Chicago, Illinois, leaving the synagogue for two years during World War II to serve as a chaplain in the U. S. Army. In 1947, he was appointed rabbi of Temple Israel in Great Neck, Long Island, where he remained for 55 years, until his death. Under his leadership, Temple Israel grew from 100 member families to 1, 300 families. Waxman emerged as a leader in the Conservative movement after he edited and wrote the introduction to Tradition and Change, the definitive anthology of writings on the views and philosophy of Conservative Judaism. He became chairman of the Membership Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and subsequently editor of the journal Conservative Judaism. He also chaired the RA’s Committee on the Study and Reevaluation of the Community Service Program – a requirement that JTS graduates enter the military chaplaincy or a designated alternative equivalent that had become so unpopular during the Vietnam War that it was terminated. In 1974, Waxman was elected president of the Rabbinical Assembly, where he worked to strengthen RA representation in the World Council of Synagogues, the official representative of Conservative Judaism in the World Zionist Organization. Seeking to establish Conservative Judaism in Israel, he pressed for greater coordination among the various Israel programs sponsored by the RA, the JTS, and United Synagogue. Also during his term of office, the RA approved the plan to publish a new commentary on the Torah for use in Conservative synagogues...Waxman, who served as chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultation, was particularly active in Catholic-Jewish relations. In 1987, he led a delegation of Jewish leaders that met with Pope John Paul II at Castel Gondolfo to resolve the Waldheim affair. Soon after, he spoke for American Jewry in welcoming the pope to the United States. For many years thereafter, Waxman and Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore co-chaired an annual series of Catholic-Jewish dialogues. He helped draft the welcoming Jewish response to the Vatican document We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah and worked to implement its mandate that Jews and Catholics sponsor joint educational programs on the Holocaust. His efforts were instrumental in bringing about the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the State of Israel. In 1997 he was awarded the Nostra Aetate Award, and in 1998 he became the first rabbi to be named by the pope a Knight Commander of the Order St. Gregory the Great..” (Gordon in EJ, 2007) . Author’s copy, with name inside front cover. In dust jacket. Very good condition. (Fest-4-4).

Price: $100.00