Albert Friedlander

Albert Hoschander Friedlander (10 May 1927 - 8 July 2004) was a Rabbi and teacher.

Friedlander, born on 10 May 1927 in Berlin was the son of a textile broker, Alex Friedlander (d. 1956) and Sali Friedlander (d. 1965). In 1961, he married Evelyn Friedlander and had three children.

In 1952, Friedlander was ordained as a rabbi having previously studied in Chicago, Cincinnati and New York City. From 1956 to 1961 he served as Rabbi for Temple B'nai Brith, a Reform synagogue founded in 1845 and located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. During his tenure there he also served as a part time faculty member for Wilkes College (now university). He then left for a position as advisor to Jewish students at Columbia University in New York City. In 1971, was the Rabbi at Westminster Synagogue in Knightsbridge, London. In 1993 he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (the Order of Merit) from the German government and in 2001 he became the first overseas-born Rabbi to be awarded an OBE.

From 1975-1995 he was the Vice President for the World Union of Progressive Judaism. He was chairman of the British branch of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (1990-94), committed to the Three Faiths Forum, and a president of the Conference of Christians and Jews. He was also a lecturer at the Leo Baeck College from 1967-71, before becoming Director of Studies 1971-1982 and then Dean from 1982-2004

He died on 8 July 2004 in London.

elected bibliography

* "Never Trust A God Over 30" (1967)
* Leo Baeck: "Teacher Of Theresienstadt" (1968)
* "Out Of The Whirlwind: A Reader Of Holocaust Literature" (1968)
* "The Six Days Of Destruction" (with Elie Wiesel, 1988)
* "A Thread Of Gold: Journeys Towards Reconciliation" (1990)
* "Riders Towards The Dawn: From Ultimate Suffering To Tempered Hope" (1993)

External links

* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/rabbi-albert-friedlander-550075.html Independent obituary by Rabbi Lionel Blue]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1259998,00.html Guardian obituary]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jul/15/guardianobituaries.hellapick Guardian appreciation by Hella Pick]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1075734.ece The Times obituary]
* [http://berghahnbooksonline.com/journals/ej/abs/2004/37-2/EJ370201.pdf European Judaism obituary by Rabbi Jonathan Magonet]