Pesikta De-Rav Kahana

Bernard Mandelbaum, 1922 - 2001 Rabbi Bernard Mandelbaum was born in 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Columbia College in 1942 and went directly into the seminary. After being ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Mandelbaum held a variety of positions at the there, including Dean of Students, Provost and Professor of Midrash, or scriptural interpretation.

In 1966, Mandelbaum became President of the seminary and was believed to be next in line for the chancellery, the position of which is considered to be the de facto leader of the Conservative movement, to which nearly two million American jews belong. Unfortunately for Mandelbaum he was ousted out of the position by his own successor for the presidency simply because Mandelbaum was considered to be too conservative. Mandelbaum left the seminary after that. He went on to hold the post of president of the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation, executive vice president of the Synagogue Council of America and created and led the Foundation for Future Generations, which supports Jewish education.

Mandelbaum wrote several books, the most famous of which was a critical edition of the "Peskita deRav Kahana," a work of biblical interpretation that dates back to the fifth century. It was published by the seminary in 1962.

Bernard Mandelbaum died on June 19, 2001 at a nursing home in Florida from a heart attack. He was 79.

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