BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY
Celebrating
Emanuel Rackman’s
90th Birthday at Pierre Hotel
By
TIM BOXER
Even at his 90th
birthday party Sunday at the Pierre Hotel, Emanuel Rackman continued to
help women improve their status in Halacha. “God created men and women
as equal,” he said. “Thank God not identical.”
During his years as spiritual
leader of Fifth Avenue Synagogue and at the helm of Bar-Ilan University,
Emanuel Rackman has consistently fought for utilizing Halacha to advance
the rights of women, sometimes to the chagrin of the overzealous among the
Orthodox.
Becoming a nonagenarian is
certainly cause for celebration. So American Friends of Bar-Ilan
University easily packed the grand ballroom with VIP admirers from the
U.S., Canada and Israel to pay tribute to the former president and
chancellor on his 90th milestone.
Moshe Kaveh, current president of
the university based in Ramat Gan, Israel, noted that a reporter once
interviewed George Bernard Shaw on his 90th and said, “I hope
to interview you again 10 years from now.”
“I don’t see why not,” Shaw
replied. “You look pretty healthy to me.”
Many of the guests, including
Gershon Kekst, Edward Berkowitz, Isaiah Sheffer, Erica Jesselson, Jane
Stern Lebell, Dr. Philip and Florence Felig, Fanya Heller, Maria Finkle,
Ephraim Propp and Richard Hirsch are looking forward to celebrating
Rackman’s 120th birthday.
Gary Rosenblatt, editor and
publisher of The Jewish Week, recalled his early days when
circulation hovered “in the high three figures.”
He credited Rackman for pulling
together a group of investors who “each put up $25,000 to secure the
future of the paper.” Circulation is now in the five-figure range, and
Rackman has been a dedicated columnist ever since.
Rackman’s son, Joseph, once
found out that they are descended from Rashi, the most famous commentator
of Bible and Talmud.
“Dad, how come you never
mentioned that?”
His father waved his hand
disdainfully. “Look at what we’ve become!”
Elie Wiesel praised the rabbi’s
power of prayer. Many years ago, after he wrote a few books, Wiesel was
invited to speak at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue where Rackman was the
spiritual leader.
“Don’t be surprised,” the
rabbi told the congregation, “if one day you open the New York Times and
read that Elie Wiesel has been awarded the Nobel Prize.”
“Some words become prayers,”
Wiesel remarked, “and some prayers are well received.”
Irwin Cotler, a law professor at
McGill University in Montreal and member of the Canadian parliament, said
he was the only member of the women’s caucus in parliament.
“What brings you here?” they
asked.
Alluding to the rabbi’s ardent
support for women’s rights in Halacha, Cotler replied, “Rabbi Rackman
influenced me to come.”
Melvin Stein, president of the
American Friends of Bar-Ilan, announced that the university would
establish the Rabbi Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of the
Status of Women.
“We formed an 18-member circle,
each of whom has committed $100,000. We have now close to $2 million.”
In his birthday speech, Rackman
urged “less denominationalism”among Jewish segments, but
“see each other as brothers and sisters. This divisiveness is
enormous. So many Orthodox Jews are distancing themselves from other
Jews.”
He also called on Jews to see the
good among the Arabs in Israel, and treat them with equality.
“We have to reject the Arafats
among them and seek the good. We have created a Jewish state and the Arabs
can learn from us as they did when they first established their
religion.”
Jordana Ingber, Rackman’s great
granddaughter, brought the house down with lines only a teenager can
deliver.
She was most grateful that great
granddaddy was not footing the bill for his extravagant birthday party.
He’ll be able to spring for “this cute little Corvette that I would
just love for my birthday/graduation present in June.”
Since everyone was unanimous in
praise of the honored guest, Jordana felt compelled to reveal a dissenting
opinion. In that way, no one will walk away saying, “Come on, he can’t
be that perfect.”
She told how her great
grandfather failed a test on computers. He identified a list of computer
terms as:
Mouse:
a furry rodent that likes cheese
DVD:
a brand of men’s underwear
Browser:
meandering through a store
Disk:
a round thing used in the Olympics
“Great
grandpa,” Jordana concluded, “we want you to know that you’ve
received a letter of congratulations from Farrah Fawcett, that famous
plumbing company.
“Mazel
tov, and I’ll drive you anywhere you like in my new car.”
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