George W. Rabinoff

George W. Rabinoff (1893-1970)

George W. Rabinoff was an internationally known social work executive and educator as well as the first executive director of the Jewish Family Service of Greater Hartford. Rabinoff graduated from the City College of New York and entered social work in 1914. After completing his studies at the New York School of Social Work, he worked at the United Jewish Charities in Hartford.

Rabinoff was one of the first professionally trained social workers in the country and played a prominent role in the national development of Jewish federations and welfare funds. During his social work career, Rabinoff founded and served for 15 years as the executive director of the Bureau of Social Research, as well as the associate executive director of its successor agency, the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds (CJFWF), now the national association of Jewish Federations of the United States and Canada.

As associate director of the Bureau for Jewish Social Research, George W. Rabinoff had a major responsibility for the establishment of the Council and served as its Executive Director from 1932 to 1935. When the Bureau for Jewish Social Research merged under the CJFWF, Rabinoff became the Council's Associate Executive Director, a position he served in until 1943.

Rabinoff brought to the Council the insights he gained from his service in the Federations of Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Hartford. After leaving the CJFWF he continued his leadership with distinction as Acting Executive Director of the Chicago Jewish Federation, and with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Europe. Rabinoff was also the Director of the Training Bureau for Jewish Communal Service (1947-1951), the Associate Executive Director of the National Social Welfare Assembly, a Fulbright scholar, teacher and consultant in Australia and he directed the social services of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). He retired from NYCHA in 1967.

According to a document of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, he was one of the nation's outstanding leaders in Jewish communal service and in social welfare generally. To all of the multiplicity of responsibilities he carried, he brought a most creative imagination and innovation, a ceaseless discontent with the status quo, standards of the highest excellence - and with these professional qualities, a personal warmth and friendship which made him a delightful and inspiring friend and companion. 2

GWR died at age 77, incapacitated by arteriosclerosis. He was survived by his wife, Jennie, and by two daughters.

1 Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, Inc. George W. Rabinoff Collection, P-58, Box 8, Folder 4.

2 ibid