Reuven Hammer

{{Infobox person

| name = Reuven Hammer

| native_name = ראובן המר

| native_name_lang = he

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|06|30}}

| birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|08|12|1933|06|30}}

| death_place = Jerusalem, Israel

| occupation = Rabbi, scholar, writer, lecturer

}}

Reuven Hammer ({{Langx|he|ראובן המר}}; June 30, 1933 – August 12, 2019){{cite web |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ix_author.php?aid=46007 |title=FORWARD 50: Growing Clarity, Sharpening Debate |last=Rushkoff |first=Donald |date=12 November 2002 |access-date=11 April 2011 |publisher=rushkoff.com}} was an American-Israeli Conservative rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer who was born in New York. He was a founder of the "Masorti" (Conservative) movement in Israel and a president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel.{{cite web |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ix_author.php?aid=46007 |title=Articles by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Hammer |publisher=My Jewish Learning |access-date=11 April 2011}} A prolific writer in both the Israeli and international press, he was a regular columnist for The Jerusalem Post{{'s}} "Tradition Today" column.{{cite web |url=http://www.thejewisheye.com/rh_entering.html |title=Review of 'Entering Torah: Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion' |last=Drazin |first=Israel |date=6 July 2009 |work=The Jewish Eye |access-date=11 April 2011}} He lived in Jerusalem.{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-pope-and-i-1.276102 |title=The Pope and I |last=Hammer |first=Reuven |work=Haaretz |date=15 May 2009 |access-date=11 April 2011}}

Biography

Hammer earned a doctorate in theology and rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary,{{cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/author/11739/reuven-hammer |title=Reuven Hammer |publisher=Random House |year=2011 |access-date=11 April 2011}} and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.[https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Beacon-of-Masorti-Judaism-Rabbi-Reuven-Hammer-dies-at-86-598409 "Beacon of Masorti Judaism, Rabbi Reuven Hammer, dies at 86", Jerusalem Post (Aug. 13, 2019)]

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.newlondon.org.uk/rabbis/?biography=2 |title=Rabbi Dr. Reuven Hammer |publisher=New London Synagogue |year=2011 |access-date=11 April 2011}} 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.

Hammer died of a brain tumour on 12 August 2019 in Jerusalem at the age of 86.[https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/masorti-pioneer-and-ex-new-london-synagogue-rabbi-reuven-hammer-dies-at-86/ Masorti pioneer and ex New London Synagogue rabbi, Reuven Hammer, dies at 86]

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/awards/national-jewish-book-awards/past-winners?category=30775|title=Past Winners|website=Jewish Book Council|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24}}

Bibliography

{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=G7maHAAACAAJ&q=reuven+hammer |title=The Other Child in Jewish Education: A handbook on learning disabilities

|publisher=United Synagogue Commission on Jewish Education |year=1979}}

{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=arpqQgAACAAJ&q=reuven+hammer |title=Sifre: A Tannaitic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy |year=1986 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn= 0-300-03345-1}}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BEO3_WVuF0AC&q=reuven+hammer |title=Entering Jewish Prayer: A guide to personal devotion and the worship service |publisher=Schocken Books |year=1995 |isbn= 0-8052-1022-9}}
{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/classicmidrashta0000unse |url-access= registration |quote= reuven hammer. |title= The Classic Midrash: Tannaitic Commentaries on the Bible |publisher=Paulist Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8091-3503-5}}
{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/jerusalemantholo0000unse |url-access= registration |quote= reuven hammer. |title=The Jerusalem Anthology: A literary guide |year=1995 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society|isbn=0-8276-0551-X}}
{{cite book |title= Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals |year=2003 |publisher= Rabbinical Assembly|isbn=0-916219-20-8}}
{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vlRO3-HErCIC&q=reuven+hammer |title=Entering the High Holy Days: A guide to origins, themes, and prayers |year=2005 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America |isbn=0-8276-0821-7}}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sO5oOgAACAAJ&q=reuven+hammer |title=Or Ḥadash: A commentary on Sidur Sim Shalom for Weekdays |year=2008 |publisher=Rabbinical Assembly |isbn= 978-0-916219-38-3}} (with Jules Harlow, Harold Kushner, and Avram Israel Reisner)
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tuBQviuPidMC&q=reuven+hammer |year=2009 |title=Entering Torah: Prefaces to the weekly Torah portion |publisher= Gefen Publishing House |isbn= 978-965-229-434-0}}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9b6fXsZiVgC |year=2011 |title=The Torah Revolution:Fourteen Truths That Changed The World |publisher= Jewish Lights Publishing |isbn= 978-1-58023-457-3}}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8A9nCgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |title=Akiva: Life, Legend, Legacy |publisher= University of Nebraska Press|isbn= 9780827612488}}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E96RtAEACAAJ |year=2017 |title=עקיבא: האיש, האגדה, המורשת |publisher= מכון שכטר ללימודי היהדות|isbn= 9789655644210}}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfFpvQEACAAJ |year=2019 |title=A Year with the Sages: Wisdom on the Weekly Torah Portion |publisher= University of Nebraska Press|isbn= 9780827613119}}

References

External links

[http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/SearchResults.aspx?q=Hammer List of "Tradition Today" columns by Rabbi Reuven Hammer in The Jerusalem Post]
[https://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/WRITER-1.4968536 List of columns by Rabbi Reuven Hammer in] Haaretz
[http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-pope-and-i-1.276102 The Pope and I by Reuven Hammer]

Category:1933 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century American rabbis

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American rabbis

Category:American Conservative rabbis

Category:American emigrants to Israel

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Israel