Reuven Hammer - Biography

Reuven Hammer (born 1933, Syracuse, New York) is a Conservative Jewish rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer. He is a founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and a past president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel. A prolific writer in both the Israeli and international press, he is a regular columnist for The Jerusalem Post "Tradition Today" column. He lives in Jerusalem.

Biography

Hammer earned his doctorate in theology and his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary.

As president of the 1,500-member Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement in Israel, Hammer authored the movement's official commentary on the prayer book, Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, published in March 2003. This work contains the complete text of Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and festivals, surrounded by a comprehensive commentary. The page layout loosely resembles that of the Talmud. In 2008 Rabbi Hammer, also authored the commentary for Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays.

From October 2005 to July 2007 Hammer was the Interim Rabbi at the New London Synagogue in London, England.

Torah scholarship

Hammer's Torah scholarship is diametrically opposed to that of Haredi Judaism, which bases its understanding on classic Midrashim and Torah commentators. Unlike Maimonides, who stressed knowledge over faith, Hammer stresses faith over knowledge, stating, "It is belief and not reason that will determine what one thinks (about what the Bible says and how to behave)".

Honors and awards

In 2003 Hammer was named to the Forward 50 as one of the most influential Jews in the American Jewish community for his achievements as president of the Rabbinical Assembly. That same year, he received the Simon Greenberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Rabbinate by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of the University of Judaism (now the American Jewish University).

His books Sifre: A Taanaitic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy (1986) and Entering the High Holy Days: A guide to origins, themes, and prayers (2005) were awarded the National Jewish Book Award as the best book of scholarship for their respective years.

Bibliography

• (with Jules Harlow, Harold Kushner, and Avram Israel Reisner)

The Torah Revolution:Fourteen Truths That Changed The World, Jewish Lights, 2011

See also

• Conservative and Masorti rabbis

External links

• List of "Tradition Today" columns by Rabbi Reuven Hammer in The Jerusalem Post
• The Pope and I by Reuven Hammer