Bernstein, Philip S. (Philip Sydney), 1901-

President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; member of the Executive Committee of the Committee on Army and Navy Religious Activities of the National Jewish Welfare Board (CANRA).

President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Advisor on Jewish Affairs to the Theater Commander in Europe after World War II.

Philip Sidney Bernstein (1901-1985)

Philip Sidney Bernstein was born in Rochester, New York on June 29, 1901, the son of Abraham M. Bernstein and Sarah Steinberg. Bernstein was a Rabbi and a Jewish civic leader. Bernstein graduated from Syracuse University (A.B., 1921) and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Rabbi, M.H.L.) in New York City. He also attended Cambridge University, Columbia University, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He married Sophy Rubin on June 11, 1925 and they had three children, Jeremy, Stephen, and Alice. In 1926, he was ordained as rabbi in the first graduating class of the Jewish Institute of Religion. Bernstein served as rabbi of the Temple Brith Kodesh in Rochester for almost half a century.

Bernstein was a committed pacifist until the German invasion of Poland, which forced him to rethink his views. During World War II, he was executive director of the committee on army and navy religious activities of the Jewish Welfare Board, a position he held until 1946. He was responsible for supervising the 300 rabbis serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. During his service, Rabbi Bernstein was the official adviser on Jewish affairs to United States Army commanders. His service propelled him into national Jewish life.

Bernstein served as a member of the Zionist Emergency Council and helped form the American Christian Palestine Committee. In 1946 he returned to his congregation in Rochester, only to leave again when he was appointed by President Truman as Jewish adviser to U.S. Army commanders in Europe (1946-1947), where he played a significant role at the time in alleviating deplorable conditions in displaced persons camps. Bernstein was best known for his work after the war, helping to find homes for over 200,000 displaced Jews. In his non-military role, he assisted in the moving of Jews from Russian-occupied Poland to American-occupied Germany.

In 1947 he returned to Rochester. He was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1950 to 1952. He was chairman (1954-1968) and subsequently honorary chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, then in its formative years. He was the author of What the Jews Believe (1951), which grew out of a series of articles published in Life Magazine . He also wrote Rabbis at War (1971), an account of his war years and the service of his colleagues to 600,000 American Jews who served in World War II.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Rabbi Bernstein served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, executive director of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds and chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Philip Bernstein was a leader of American Jewish cultural, civic, and philanthropic life as chief executive of the Council of Jewish Federations from 1955-1979, and afterwards as executive vice-president emeritus and consultant from 1979-1995. He helped establish the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, the National Jewish Community Relations Council, reorganize the Jewish Agency for Israel and design Project Renewal to combat poverty in Israel. He provided guidance for the merger of the New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and the United Jewish Appeal, which created the world's largest Jewish communal service. Bernstein was active in the Zionist movement, American Jewish Congress, and other causes, national and local, as well as in the civic affairs of his city. From 1932 to 1933 he was President of the Rochester City Club.

Bernstein served on the following boards: AFL-CIO, Community Services Committee Brandeis University, Institute of Contemporary Jewish Affairs, Advisory committee Citizens' Crusade against Poverty Council for Social Planning and Progress Development Empire Housing Foundation, New York Interreligious Committee against Poverty, Social Welfare Assembly National Assembly for Social Policy and Development National Conference of Jewish Communal Services, President National Conference on Social Welfare National Interfaith Consultation on Social Welfare, Steering Committee School of Advanced Social Studies, Board of Overseers United Jewish Appeal - New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, Chairman Social Services division U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, ad hoc committee

In addition to writing a book To Dwell in Unity, Bernstein authored numerous articles both in Jewish and general publications, such as Harper's Magazine, The Nation, Opinion, Bnai Brith Magazine, American Hebrew, and Christian Century . He was also a contributor to several encyclopedias.

Bernstein died in Rochester, New York on December 3, 1985 of heart failure.

Sources: "Bernstein, Philip Sidney." Encyclopedia Judaica, Second Edition, Volume 3, page 483 "Rabbi Philip Bernstein Helped Displaced Jews" http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/21/nyregion/rabbi-philip-bernstein-helped-displaced-jews.html Biographical Encyclopedia of American Jews, 1935 . Ref. E184.J5 B55 Who's Who in American Jewry, 1938-1939 . Ref. E184.J5 W6 The Concise Dictionary of American Jewish Biography, vol. 1, ed. by Jacob Rader Marcus