Rabbi David M. Posner | |
---|---|
Born | November 4, 1947 Brooklyn, NY |
Died | October 19, 2018 New York, NY |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Rabbi |
Years active | 1973 - 2018 |
Known for | Congressional Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, New York |
David M. Posner (November 4, 1947 - October 19, 2018) was an American rabbi who led the flagship reform temple, [1] Temple Emanu-El, in New York, NY for 40 years as a congregational rabbi. He died from complications of Alzheimer's disease [2]
Posner was a scholar of comparative Semitic languages, including Aramaic and Syriac. [2]
Posner was born in Atlantic City to Ralph and Doris (Silver) Posner. His mother was a homemaker who later became a schoolteacher. His father was an executive at a shipping logistics company. When he was a child, the family moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn, where he attended Meyer Levin Junior High School and Samuel J. Tilden High. [2]
Immediately following his ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1973, Posner joined the rabbinical staff of Temple Emanu-El. Known as the consummate congregational rabbi, [3] the New York Times wrote that he was "a thoughtful, meticulous man, not a showboat", and that "rather than forming institutes or posing with politicians, he liked to stay at the temple — his battle station, as he called it — waiting for his congregants to call." [4] In 1998, he received the Doctor of Divinity degree, honoris causa [5] from Hebrew Union College.