Full Friday evening Shabbat service at Temple Israel with a sermon by Rabbi Gittelsohn: “Who Speaks for God?”, February 15, 1957. Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.

TI-AV_90102-002

Item Information

Title:
Full Friday evening Shabbat service at Temple Israel with a sermon by Rabbi Gittelsohn: “Who Speaks for God?”, February 15, 1957. Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.
Description:
Full Friday evening Sabbath service at Temple Israel led by Rabbis Roland B. Gittelsohn and Leon A. Jick, with a sermon by Rabbi Gittelsohn, “Who Speaks for God?”, which, according to Gittelsohn, is stimulated in large part by the production of The Lark, a drama based on the life of Joan of Arc. Gittelsohn states that those who claim to speak for God are often diametrically opposed. However, he finds four answers to the question “who speaks for God” in the actions and words of Joan. Gittelsohn argues that “He speaks for God who loves and trusts man”, “who urges and encourages man to fulfill the God-like potential within themselves”, “who urges man to be free because only under freedom can man fulfill their potential”, and “who refuses to compromise truth for the sake of convenience and comfort.” Rabbi Gittelsohn then instructs the congregation that these answers are in the tradition of Judaism. Choral music performed by the Temple Israel Choir, Herbert Fromm, conductor.
Speaker:
Gittelsohn, Roland Bertram, 1910-1995
Speaker:
Jick, Leon A.
Musical director:
Fromm, Herbert
Composer:
Fromm, Herbert
Creator:
Congregation Adath Israel (Boston, Mass.)
Date:
February 15, 1957
Format:
Audio recordings (nonmusical)
Location:
Temple Israel of Boston
Wyner Archives
Collection (local):
Past Voices, Audio Recordings, 1934-1979
Subjects:
Reform Judaism--United States
Jewish sermons--United States
Synagogue music--Sabbath services--United States
Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431
Places:
Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston
Extent:
1/4" open reel tape (1 hour, 26 min., 52 sec.)
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/kw52mz30s
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License (CC BY-ND).
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Language:
English
Hebrew
Preferred Citation:
Full Friday evening Shabbat service at Temple Israel with a sermon by Rabbi Gittelsohn: “Who Speaks for God?”, February 15, 1957. Audiovisual Collection, Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.
Notes (funding):
This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Notes (historical):
Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn (1910-1995), social justice activist, Zionist, and writer, was Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel from 1953-1977 and Rabbi Emeritus thereafter. He served as founding rabbi of Central Synagogue in Rockville Center, NY from 1936-1953. During WWII, he became the first Jewish Marine Corps chaplain, and, in 1945, he delivered a moving, oft-quoted eulogy on brotherhood at Iwo Jima. After his retirement he was a co-founder of ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists).
Rabbi Leon A. Jick (1924-2005), professor, historian, activist, and Zionist, was Assistant Rabbi at Temple Israel from 1954-1957. From 1957-1966, he served as rabbi of the Free Synagogue of Westchester in Mount Vernon, NY. He then became Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, where he held several positions, including Dean, over the next 24 years. His book, The Americanization of the Synagogue, 1820-1870 (1992) has become a classic.
Herbert Fromm (1905-1995), Temple Israel’s organist and Music Director (1941-1973), was a German-born conductor and composer forced to leave Germany in 1937. A prolific composer of religious music, much of which became part of the standard synagogue repertoire, and secular works, he also published many articles and essays and several books.
Identifier:
TI-AV_90102.002