Klein, Isaac

Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El (Buffalo, N.Y.)

From the description of Correspondence to Chaim Potok, 1967-1969. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 704393853

Rabbi Isaac Klein was born in the Carpathian Mountain area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on September 8, 1905. He received his initial education in the Cheders of his native land. He emigrated with his family to the United States in 1921. Determined to further his education, he enrolled in the Isaac Elchanan Yeshiva (now part of Yeshiva University). He earned his B.A. degree from the City College of New York in 1931. As he was nearing ordination at the Yeshiva he transferred to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America where he was ordained in 1934. Rabbi Klein's first appointment was as a pulpit rabbi at Kadimah Congregation, Springfield, Massachusetts, where he served until 1953 except for the time he spent as a military chaplain during World War II and in government service. He proved to be an outstanding military chaplain and the story of those years is told in one of his many books. In 1950/1951 he was appointed by President Truman to direct Jewish religious affairs in the American occupied sector of Germany. In 1948, during his Springfield years, Rabbi Klein received a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1953 Rabbi Klein accepted the pulpit of Temple Emanu-El in Buffalo, New York. In 1968 this synagogue merged with Temple Beth David Ner Israel to become Temple Shaarey Zedek. From 1958 to 1960 he served as president of the Rabbinical Assembly and was a member of its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards from 1948 to 1979. Rabbi Klein retired in 1972, spending his winters in California where he taught at the University of Judaism, lectured widely and, despite failing health, wrote books and articles. As a leading authority on halakha he authored many important teshuvot (responsa), many of which were published in his influential "Responsa and halakhic studies". With his major work, "A guide to Jewish religious practice", he mad a lasting contribution to Judaism and to the Jewish people. A towering figure among the Conservative rabbis of his generation, Rabbi Klein leaned toward tradition both in personal practice and his influence on the movement. He was one of the outstanding halakhists of the movement. Rabbi Klein died in Los Angeles, California on January 23, 1979 and is buried in Buffalo, New York.

From the description of Rabbi Isaac Klein papers, 1925-1979. (SUNY at Buffalo). WorldCat record id: 123539743