David Ellenson

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Photo of Professor David Ellenson in his office at Brandeis University
Ellenson in his office at Brandeis University

David Ellenson (November 21, 1947 – December 7, 2023) was an American rabbi and academic who was known as a leader of the

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). He previously served as president of HUC-JIR from 2001 to December 31, 2013, and was later chancellor emeritus of that college until his death. Ellenson had served as interim president following the death of his successor, Aaron D. Panken[1] until the inauguration of Andrew Rehfeld, the 10th and current President.[2]

Early life and education

Ellenson was born on June 25, 1947, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Newport News, Virginia.[3][4] He was president of the student body at Newport News High School in 1964–65.

Ellenson graduated from the

Ph.D from Columbia University in 1981.[5]

Career

Ellenson was first appointed a member of the faculty in Jewish Religious Thought at

Hebrew University. He has been a fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute of Jerusalem, a fellow and lecturer at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and a teacher at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. In 2015, Ellenson was appointed a distinguished visiting professor at New York University
and he taught there in the Skirball Department of Judaic Studies in 2015–2016.

A scholar of modern Jewish thought and history, Ellenson is recognized for his writings and publications in these fields. He has written extensively on the origins and development of Orthodox Judaism in Germany during the nineteenth century, Orthodox legal writings on conversion in Israel, North America, and Europe during the modern era, the relationship between religion and state in Israel, the history of modern Jewish religious movements, and American Jewish life.

Ellenson authored or edited seven books and over 300 articles and reviews in a wide variety of academic and popular journals and newspapers.

Ellenson was inaugurated as HUC's eighth president in October 2002, succeeding Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman. Upon his retirement and assumption of the role of HUC-JIR's first chancellor, he was succeeded as president by Rabbi Aaron Panken.[6]

David Ellenson and his daughter

National Jewish Book Award in 2006,[7] the only father and daughter to do so in the same year since Abraham Joshua Heschel and Susannah Heschel
.

President

State of Israel in May 2008.[8]

In 2009 Newsweek named him # 5 on its list of "50 Influential Rabbis."[9]

Death

Ellenson died on December 7, 2023, at the age of 76.[10]

Books

  • Jewish Meaning in a World of Choice: Studies in Tradition and Modernity. The Jewish Publication Society, 2014
  • Pledges of Jewish Allegiance, co-authored with Daniel Gordis. Stanford University Press, 2012. Nominated for National Jewish Book Award.
  • After Emancipation: Jewish Religious Responses to Modernity. HUC-Press, 2004.[11][12] Winner of National Jewish Book Award 2006.
  • Between Tradition and Culture: The Dialectics of Jewish Religion and Identity in the Modern World. Scholar's Press, 1994.
  • Bits of Honey: Essays for Samson H. Levey, co-edited with Stanley Chyet. Scholar's Press, 1993.
  • Rabbi Esriel Hildesheimer and the Creation of a Modern Jewish Orthodoxy. University of Alabama Press, 1990.[13] Nominated for National Jewish Book Award.
  • Tradition in Transition: Orthodoxy. Halakhah and the Boundaries of Modern Jewish Identity. University Press of America. 1989.[14]

References

  1. ^ Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D, Chancellor, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 2014
  2. ^ "Andrew Rehfeld". HUC. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Rabbi David Ellenson Former died President of Hebrew Union College
  4. ^ a b Rodman, Edmund J., Rabbi David Ellenson: Bringing heart and old-school soul to academia, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, February 6, 2014
  5. The Jewish Week
    .
  6. ^ Aaron Panken named president of Reform movement’s rabbinical school: Replacing Rabbi David Ellenson, Panken will serve as CEO of four Hebrew Union College campuses across the United States and Israel. Haaretz, August 1, 2013
  7. ^ Ballon, Marc, Community Briefs: Father, Daughter Each Earn Book Awards, Jewish Journal, March 9, 2006
  8. New York Sun
  9. ^ "50 Influential Rabbis". Newsweek. April 3, 2009.
  10. ^ David Ellenson, leading Jewish scholar and former HUC president, dies at 76
  11. JSTOR 4131656
    .
  12. S2CID 143754516
    .
  13. JSTOR 23260670
    .
  14. JSTOR 23260980
    .
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