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Philip Reis Alstat (1891–1976) was a well-known American Conservative rabbi, teacher, chaplain, speaker and writer. Born in Kaunas (formerly, Kovno), Lithuania, he came to the United States in 1898,〔The 1900 census report shows the family living in South Bethlehem, PA, but by the 1910 census, he and his brother were listed as "boarders," living in NY City.〕 studying at City College of New York (A.B., 1912), Columbia University (A.M., 1915), and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), where he received ''semikhah'', rabbinic ordination, in 1920,〔(Mordecai M. Kaplan, Mel Scult, ''Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Modecai M. Kaplan, 1913–1934'', 64. )〕 and the Doctor of Divinity degree (honoris causa), in 1966. For many years, he lived at JTS, serving as an informal and unofficial in-house counselor and mentor for generations of rabbinical students.〔 In addition to his experience as a pulpit rabbi in New York synagogues including Congregation Shaare Zedek (New York City) on Manhattan's upper-West side, he was a chaplain for a number of New York institutions, including The Tombs, the Manhattan Detention Complex, and oversaw courses for prospective converts to Judaism in New York City.〔David Max Eichhorn, ''Conversions to Judaism by Reform and Conservative Rabbis'', Jewish Social Studies, Indiana University Press, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Oct., 1954), pp. 299–318.〕 For more than four decades, he wrote the widely syndicated weekly newspaper column, ''Strange to Relate''.〔(Rabbi Clifford B. Miller, Senior Cataloger, ''Macaroni and Cinderella in the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary,'' ''JTS Library News,'' Vol 3, No. 1, April 2007, p7. )〕 ==Life and work== Alstat, the brother of Rabbi Murray Alstet,〔Sol Landau, Eulogy for Rabbi Murray Alstet, Rabbinical Assembly Proceedings, Vol. 39, 1977, pp106-107, notes that Philip Alstat was the main speaker for the ceremony in honor of Murray's 50th year of ordination, in 1965. At that point, Murray Alstet was serving as rabbi for Beth David Congregation, in Miami, FL.〕 was "one of the early pioneers" of the Conservative movement,〔Gilbert M. Epstein, Eulogy for Rabbi Philip R. Alstat, Rabbinical Assembly Proceedings, Vol. 39, 1977, pp103-105.〕 attending rabbinical school with classmates who would become many of the teachers and leaders of the movement. He graduated in 1920, in the same class as Max Kadushin, and one year before future JTS Chancellor, Louis Finkelstein. Early in his rabbinic career, he served in a number of synagogue pulpits, including Temple Sons of Israel, in White Plains, New York, 1920–21; Temple Beth Elohim, 1921–25; Temple Adath Israel, The Bronx, NY, 1925–30; and Temple Bnai Israel-Sheerith Judah, in upper Manhattan, 1933–1955.,〔Trenton Evening News, Jan 19, 1940〕〔''The Heights Observer'', February 1938.〕〔Bronx Jewish Herald, Dec 28, 1928, "Bronx Rabbi Takes a Fling at the "Lekovod Christmas" Jews.〕 before leaving to focus on other endeavors, including teaching, writing, and chaplaincy service in New York prisons, hospitals, and senior citizen facilities. Alstat was an ardent Zionist and an early representative of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). In 1935, he spoke to a combined meeting of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and Hadassah, declaring that "the solution of the problem of world Jewry lies in the rebuilding of the national Jewish homeland in Palestine." He stated that "World Jewry is now wrestling with a complexity of major problems, such as the combating of anti-Semitism which is rearing its ugly head in various lands; finding a refuge for the persecuted and exiled Jews of Germany; widening the ever-narrowing channels of economic opportunities for Jews; and preserving and transmitting the spiritual heritage of the Jewish people. All of these problems can be solved in large measure by accelerating the tempo of the rebuilding of the Jewish national homeland in Palestine."〔(Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, Feb 19, 1935. )〕 In addition to his positions with the WZO and ZOA, he was on the Executive Boards of many other organizations, including the United Synagogue of America, the Jewish National Fund, and the United Palestine Appeal,〔 and an active member of others, including the Rabbinical Assembly, and the New York Board of Rabbis. He worked as a prison chaplain at the Manhattan Correctional Facility ("The Tombs") for three decades,〔(''New York Times,'' Obit, Nov 30, 1976. )〕 and served as secretary of the National Council of Jewish Prison Chaplains, sharing information with rabbis who worked with inmates and prison staff in other facilities throughout the United States.〔(American Jewish Committee Archives, Directories and Lists. )〕 He explained his vision of prison chaplaincy by saying that, "My goals are the same as those of the prison authorities—to make better human beings. The only difference is that their means are discipline, security, and iron bars. Mine are the spiritual ministrations that operate with the mind and the heart."〔Edward Fiske, ''New York Times, ''City Prison Chaplains' Load is Heavy, Oct 26, 1970.〕 He would sometimes take rabbinical students with him on his visits, schooling them on counseling techniques he had developed over the years. When he retired from prison chaplaincy work in 1974, as the city was preparing to tear down part of the facility (although it was eventually replaced by new buildings), he reflected over his career, noting that prison conditions had markedly improved, especially since the 1970 "upheavals" at The Tombs. He said there was "much more cordiality and serenity – if it's possible to have any serenity in a prison."〔Inmates and Guards Lament the Imminent End of the Tombs, New York Times, Dec 3, 1974.〕 In addition to his work as a prison chaplain, Alstat also served as a chaplain for Jewish Memorial Hospital, Sydenham Hospital, and the Williams Memorial Residence, operated by the Salvation Army.〔 His syndicated column, "Strange to Relate," was printed in many Jewish papers, and led to many invitations to speak at Jewish community events. He was described as a "prominent American lecturer on Jewish oddities, curiosities, and fantasies."〔(''Canadian Jewish News, March 7, 1947. )〕 However, while his column and some of his presentations focused on oddities—issues that were "strange to relate" – Alstat was also well known for speaking his mind on the most serious of issues, delivering important messages in eloquent ways. In an ''American Jewish History'' article on the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the author noted that during Alstat's early time in the rabbinate, the RA's concerns were about America and the Conservative movement, but it was rare to deal with the problems "plaguing the American rabbi." Rabbi Alstat's address to the 1929 annual RA convention was especially noteworthy because he shared such concerns in a public forum, when he delivered the presentation, ''Observations on the Status of the Rabbinate''.〔(Pamela S. Nadell, Letter to the Editor, ''Commentary'', September 1985. )〕〔(Abraham J. Karp, ''The Conservative Rabbi – "Dissatisfied But Not Unhappy"'', originally published in ''American Jewish Archives, November 1983; reprinted in Jeffrey S. Gurock, ''American Jewish History'', a 13-volume set sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society, 1998, Vol 5, Part 1, p219. )〕 That address included he following words: Of what avail is it to discern the relationship of "Traditional Judaism and Modern Life..." or to analyze the "Spiritual Elements in Judaism," or to ascertain the "Abiding Value of the Belief in the Resurrection," unless the exponents of Judaism are invested with dignity and armed with authority? The rich "all-right-nickes" inwardly despise the rabbi because he is poor in worldly goods and economic security.... How much respect can they have for the authority of their spiritual leader whose position is precarious, whose bread and butter they control, whose brief tenure of office and fear of the annual re-election make him the football of contending factions, an impotent creature whom they can bully, intimidate, and abuse with impunity? The Jewish intellectuals ...despise the rabbi, because, they charge, he is poor intellectually and spiritually, that he has no message for them...no solution for any of our vexing problems...that he is not a thinker or spiritual leader, but a maker of empty phrases.... Alstat was an early champion of the rights of women, including their education and their place in academia. In the 1930s, he worked with Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, teaching courses on Jewish History and Modern Jewish Problems at "The School of the Jewish Woman," the institution she created on New York's Upper West Side, under the auspices of Hadassah.〔( Carole S. Kessner, ''The "Other" New York Jewish Intellectuals'', NYU Press, NY:1994, 106. This reference notes Alstat taught these courses as of 1937. )〕 Weiss-Rosmarin, and those who worked with her, felt that "Jewish women had been short-changed...and saw education was the remedy." "As an intellectual feminist," Weiss-Rosmarin promoted the study of the liturgy, learning the meaning and history of the prayers, "to stimulate attendance of women at synagogue." Through classes in history, philosophy, customs, and ceremonies, Alstat, along with the other well-known rabbis who taught at this school, helped promote this vision of increased education, not only for the women of that time, but also so that they could help their children. As Weiss-Rosmarin put it, "If you want your children to grow up as educated Jews, you yourself must become educated."〔 He was also involved in the spread and strengthening of the Conservative movement in many ways, speaking at many dedication ceremonies and other special events for Conservative congregations, as he did on September 17, 1927, for Ohev Shalom Synagogue Center, in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.〔(Ohav Shalom website. )〕 He also was an important force in conversion studies for prospective converts to Judaism, individuals who would later come to be called, "Jews by choice." He sometimes taught the courses himself, but he also supervised a network of rabbinical students who would meet one-on-one with conversion students. At one point, virtually all requests for conversions under the auspices of the Conservative movement in New York City were referred to him by Conservative colleagues.〔 Among the rabbinical students who helped him with the final stages of conversion, including the mikveh(ritual immersion) and beit din(rabbinical court), Alstat was well known for the way that, no matter what new name was chosen by the convert, he would link that name, and the conversion itself, to the Biblical story of Ruth, the most famous convert in the Bible. Alstat lived in a JTS dormitory for forty-three years,〔〔 serving as a counselor and mentor for generations of rabbinical students. He would share both his knowledge of Jewish subjects, and the practical techniques he had developed over the years for filing bits and pieces of information that later helped him with his columns, and could help rabbis with their articles and sermons. He was well known for speaking with rabbinic students upon their return from student pulpit positions during the Jewish High Holy Days, greeting them with the question, "How was your success?" This question would lead to serious discussions about the difference between success during a short visit and a successful rabbinic career that would span years. When rabbinical students were having a hard time putting together a eulogy for a funeral, he would advise them to ask the relatives, "What kind of a report card do you think this person would have received from God?" In his talks and even in the eulogies he delivered, he would teach that the way to "appraise and evaluate the life achievements of a rabbi" come from the Talmudic verse,〔Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, p31a.〕 where it is taught that we will be asked two questions: the second, whether we engaged in studies that were "Jewishly cultural and creative?"; but the very first, whether we dealt with others faithfully—with integrity.〔Philip R. Alstat, Eulogy for Rabbi Alter Abelson, Rabbinical Assembly Proceedings, Vol 29(1965), pp139-141.〕 In Alstat's own eulogy, he was called "the friend, confidant and adviser to several generations of rabbinical students. Over the years he became the ''rabbi's rabbi'' as colleagues sought his counsel and advice."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philip R. Alstat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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