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December 2, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rabbi Prof. Emanuel Rackman, Chancellor Emeritus of Bar-Ilan University,
Passes Away in New York at the Age of 98

Rabbi Prof. Emanuel Rackman,
Chancellor Emeritus of Bar-Ilan University

Rabbi Prof. Emanuel Rackman, one of the most prominent and outspoken Jewish leaders of our time, passed away yesterday in New York.  A world-renowned expert in Jewish law, Rabbi Rackman oversaw the tremendous growth and development of Bar-Ilan University as the long-time president, and later chancellor, of the University.  Rabbi Rackman was 98 years of age.

"Rabbi Rackman was my mentor, a man whose vision for the Jewish people not only shaped modern orthodoxy, and advanced Bar-Ilan University even further on its path of Jewish value education, but profoundly impacted on the thinking and deeds of our students, faculty and staff," said Bar-Ilan University President Prof. Moshe Kaveh.  "The University and the Jewish world have lost a giant of a man whose greatness was derived not only by his intellect, but his passion and sense of social justice," he added.
 
President of Bar-Ilan University for more than nine years, Rabbi Rackman served as Chancellor of the University from 1986 to 1999, when he was appointed Chancellor Emeritus.  Under his leadership, the University tripled the size of its student body and grew in stature as a prominent international Jewish academic institution.

Born June 24, 1910, Rabbi Rackman was ordained at Yeshiva University.  Following an impressive career in the military teaching chaplains of all denominations, he served as Rabbi of the prestigious Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York City and Shaarey Tefila Congregation in Far Rockaway.  He also taught Jewish law at the City University of New York, New York Law School and Yeshiva College.  He has been President of the Rabbinical Council of America, the New York Board of Rabbis, and the Association of Jewish Chaplains of the Armed Forces of the USA, among numerous other positions.  In 1977, he came on aliyah to Israel with his beloved wife, Ruth, who passed away in 1997.

Rabbi Rackman served as a role model for a generation of Rabbis entering the American Orthodox Rabbinate.  Through his person and teachings, he demonstrated the "Modern Orthodoxy" was, and is, a coherent and convincing ideology, a philosophy not of compromise but of commitment. 

Rabbi Rackman advocated tirelessly for women's rights and social justice.  In 2001 Bar-Ilan University established The Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women in recognition of his immeasurable contribution to the Jewish people and his outstanding efforts to improve the status of women.  The Center, headed by Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, was established with the goal of improving women's status and bringing an end to gender discrimination in Israeli society. Through legal aid, public advocacy, research and women's empowerment, the Center aims to fulfill the vision of Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Rackman to advance women's rights in Israel and better women's standing within Jewish family law.  Just last month the Israeli Knesset voted in favor of an amendment to the Spousal Property Relations Law which will now allow for the division of property prior to divorce. The Rackman Center took a leading role in initiating this revolutionary amendment. 

Rabbi Rackman's books Israel's Emerging Constitution, One Man's Judaism, and Modern Halacha for our Time, and his many published essays, are scholarly masterpieces that lay out a clearly defined worldview.  The central theme: that there is a creative principle in halacha; that Jewish law must evolve in order to be a more central moral force in rectifying the injustices of the modern world.

Throughout the years, Rabbi Rackman reached out to the halachic decisors of the day to stretch their understanding, to challenge them to broaden their response to the problems of the suffering and the needy.  He was, at once, a brilliant defender of halacha and a conscience to its practitioners to do better for the Jewish People and the world.

Rabbi Rackman's heart and spirit were wholly committed to the unity of the Jewish People, and he unceasingly argued that the survival of Judaism and the Jewish People must necessarily transcend denominational differences.  No Orthodox leader in our time was as outspoken a champion of Klal Yisrael as Rabbi Rackman.

In 2000 Bar-Ilan University honored Rabbi Rackman with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership and of his inestimable contribution to the development of the University.

Rabbi Rackman is survived by his sons Michael, Joseph, and Bennett, and their families.

Following a service later today at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York, Rabbi Rackman's body will be flown to Israel.  Burial will take place at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, December 3) at the Eretz HaChaim cemetery near Bet Shemesh.  The family will be sitting shiva at the Plaza Sheraton Hotel in Jerusalem.

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