Zalman I. Posner
Zalman I. Posner | |
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| Born | November 1926 (12 Kislev 5687) |
| Died | 23 April 2014 (23 Nissan 5774) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Rabbi, Congregation Sherith Israel |
| Notable work | Think Jewish, Tanya (translator), HaYom Yom (translator), Kuntres Umaayan: Overcoming Folly (translator) |
| Spouse | Risya Kazarnovsky |
| Parents |
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| Part of a series on |
| Chabad (Rebbes and Chasidim) |
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Rabbi Zalman I. Posner (1927 – 2014) was an American rabbi and writer associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Posner served as a congregational rabbi and community leader in the American Southeast for five decades, serving the Orthodox congregation Sherith Israel and founding a local school both in Nashville, Tennessee.[2][3][4][5]
Activities
In early 1948, Posner was sent as a shaliach ("emissary") to DP camps and Jewish communities in Europe for education work. On his return to the States, he became the principal of the Yeshiva in Springfield, Massachusetts.[6]
In September 1949, Posner and his wife Risya came to Nashville, Tennessee, as the first Chabad emissaries to the state, a position they held for 53 years.[3][7][6] In 1954, they founded the Akiva School in Nashville.[5][8] In September 1957, Posner assumed deanship of the Yeshiva Achei Tmimim of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[6] founded by his parents.[9] Despite his out-of-state duties, he continued to guide the Jewish community of Nashville as Rabbi and Principal of the Akiva Day School for many years.
Views
Within the Chabad movement, there is a debate concerning the population estimate of the Chabad movement in the United States prior to World War Two. While some figures in the community proposed a higher estimate based on assumed migration patterns from Russia to the USA, Posner rejected the stance and opined that a projected figure of the pre-war Chabad community in North America of 160,000 members was overinflated.[10]
Posner was also critical of contemporary sociological studies of Hasidic Jews. Posner deemed such studies as lacking in that they presented a portrait of religious communities which appeared as highly focused on traditional observance of Jewish ritual. The critique concerned the expected lack of framing that most religious practices of Hasidic Jews were also the religious practices of other observant Jews. For Posner, sociological studies that are inadequate means through which the religious fervor of Hasidic prayer or the intimate bond between the Hasidic Rebbe and Hasid can be explained.[11]
Works authored
- Think Jewish (1978, 2002)[12]
- Reflections on the Sedra
Translations and commentaries
- Tanya, Bilingual Edition: Parts III and V
- On the Teachings of Chassidus
- On Learning Chassidus
- The Tzemach Tzedek and the Haskala Movement
- HaYom Yom
- Kuntres Uma'ayan
- Saying Tehillim
Personal life
Zalman Posner's parents were Rabbi Sholom and Chaya Posner.[13] As a member of the Chabad community in the United States in the early twentieth century, Posner was one of the first yeshiva students trained at the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn which was established in 1940 and opened in 1941.[7][14] His wife Risya Posner predeceased him in 2007.[15] Posner died in Rancho Mirage, California on April 23, 2014.[16]
See also
External links
- Articles by Zalman Posner on Chabad.org
- Articles by Zalman Posner in the Berman Jewish Policy Archive
References
- ^ Rabbi Zalman Posner, 87, OBM
- ^ Walter, S., & Gahr, E. (1998). The land where religion is hip. The American Enterprise, 9(2), 48-52.
- ^ a b "Congregation Sherith Israel - Nashville, TN Orthodox Synagogue - Personnel Details". December 9, 2015. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ "Pioneering Chabad Emissary, Mother and Grandmother Passes Away in Nashville". www.chabad.org. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Robinson, Ronda. "After 53 years, Nashville's grand ole rabbi retires." The Jerusalem Post. 2002. Archived copy on rondarobinson.com.
- ^ a b c Reflections on the Sedra, front matter.
- ^ a b "Interview: Rabbi Zalman Posner". COLlive. February 3, 2012. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ Respected religious leader Rabbi Posner plans 2002 retirement Friday, December 21, 2001. Accessed March 10, 2014.
- ^ "1943: Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh." Rauh Jewish Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center.
- ^ Mureinik, R. J. (2018). Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Doctoral dissertation, Ben Gurion University of the Negev).
- ^ Posner, Z. I. (1963). "Williamsburg—A Jewish Community in Transition." Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Thought. 5(2), 302-304.
- ^ Samuelson, Norbert Max. An Introduction to Modern Jewish Philosophy. SUNY Press, 1989.
- ^ "Obituary: Rabbi Zalman I. Posner, '53, Bridge Builder". Vanderbilt University. December 23, 2014.
- ^ "Jewish Pride in the 1940s (Interview)". Chabad.org. November 2005.
- ^ "Chabad-Lubavitch Mourns Senior Representative to Nashville". Lubavitch.com. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
- ^ COLLive: Rabbi Zalman Posner, 87, OBM
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