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Richard
Hirsch, Maria Finkle
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BAR-ILAN
UNIVERSITY
Celebrating
Emanuel Rackman’s
90th Birthday at Pierre Hotel
By
TIM BOXER
 ven
at his 90th birthday party Sunday at the Pierre Hotel,
Emanuel Rackman continued to help women improve their status in
Halacha. “God created men and women as equal,” he said. “Thank
God not identical.”
During his years as
spiritual leader of Fifth Avenue Synagogue and at the helm of Bar-Ilan
University, Emanuel Rackman has consistently fought for utilizing
Halacha to advance the rights of women, sometimes to the chagrin of
the overzealous among the Orthodox.
Judge
Sol Wachtler, Irving Schneider |
Becoming a nonagenarian is
certainly cause for celebration. So American Friends of Bar-Ilan
University easily packed the grand ballroom with VIP admirers from
the U.S., Canada and Israel to pay tribute to the former president
and chancellor on his 90th milestone.
Moshe Kaveh, current
president of the university based in Ramat Gan, Israel, noted that a
reporter once interviewed George Bernard Shaw on his 90th
and said, “I hope to interview you again 10 years from now.”
“I don’t see why
not,” Shaw replied. “You look pretty healthy to me.”
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Malcolm
Thomson with Marion and Elie Wiesel
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Many of the guests,
including Gershon Kekst, Edward Berkowitz, Isaiah Sheffer, Erica
Jesselson, Jane Stern Lebell, Dr. Philip and Florence Felig, Fanya
Heller, Maria Finkle, Ephraim Propp and Richard Hirsch are looking
forward to celebrating Rackman’s 120th birthday.
Gary Rosenblatt, editor and
publisher of The Jewish Week, recalled his early days when
circulation hovered “in the high three figures.”
He credited Rackman for
pulling together a group of investors who “each put up $25,000 to
secure the future of the paper.” Circulation is now in the
five-figure range, and Rackman has been a dedicated columnist ever
since.
Ingeborg
and Ira Leon Rennert |
Rackman’s son, Joseph,
once found out that they are descended from Rashi, the most famous
commentator of Bible and Talmud.
“Dad, how come you never
mentioned that?”
His father waved his hand
disdainfully. “Look at what we’ve become!”
Elie Wiesel praised the
rabbi’s power of prayer. Many years ago, after he wrote a few
books, Wiesel was invited to speak at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue
where Rackman was the spiritual leader.
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Rochelle
Hirsch, Rafael Rothstein
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“Don’t be surprised,”
the rabbi told the congregation, “if one day you open the New York
Times and read that Elie Wiesel has been awarded the Nobel Prize.”
“Some words become
prayers,” Wiesel remarked, “and some prayers are well
received.”
Irwin Cotler, a law
professor at McGill University in Montreal and member of the
Canadian parliament, said he was the only member of the women’s
caucus in parliament.
“What brings you here?”
they asked.
Carol and Ephraim Propp |
Alluding to the rabbi’s
ardent support for women’s rights in Halacha, Cotler replied,
“Rabbi Rackman influenced me to come.”
Melvin Stein, president of
the American Friends of Bar-Ilan, announced that the university
would establish the Rabbi Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement
of the Status of Women.
“We formed an 18-member
circle, each of whom has committed $100,000. We have now close to $2
million.”
In his birthday speech,
Rackman urged “less denominationalism”among Jewish segments, but
“see each other as brothers and sisters. This divisiveness
is enormous. So many Orthodox Jews are distancing themselves from
other Jews.”
He also called on Jews to
see the good among the Arabs in Israel, and treat them with
equality.
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Florence
and Dr. Philip Felig
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“We have to reject the
Arafats among them and seek the good. We have created a Jewish state
and the Arabs can learn from us as they did when they first
established their religion.”
Jordana Ingber, Rackman’s
great granddaughter, brought the house down with lines only a
teenager can deliver.
She was most grateful that
great granddaddy was not footing the bill for his extravagant
birthday party. He’ll be able to spring for “this cute little
Corvette that I would just love for my birthday/graduation present
in June.”
Since everyone was
unanimous in praise of the honored guest, Jordana felt compelled to
reveal a dissenting opinion. In that way, no one will walk away
saying, “Come on, he can’t be that perfect.”
She told how her great
grandfather failed a test on computers. He identified a list of
computer terms as:
Mouse:
a furry rodent that likes cheese
DVD:
a brand of men’s underwear
Browser:
meandering through a store
Disk:
a round thing used in the Olympics
Judy and
Gary Rosenblatt,
Jewish
Week
Editor/Publisher |
“Great
grandpa,” Jordana concluded, “we want you to know that you’ve
received a letter of congratulations from Farrah Fawcett, that
famous plumbing company.
“Mazel
tov, and I’ll drive you anywhere you like in my new car.”
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