Alfred Wolf (1915–2004) was a German-born American rabbi.

Early life

Alfred Wolf was born in 1915 in Eberbach, Germany. He attended a Hebrew seminary in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and went to the

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

on a student exchange program. As the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

had come to power, Wolf decided to stay in the United States. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1941. Later that year, he sponsored his parents to emigrate to the United States on visas.

Career

Wolf served as a rabbi in

Dothan, Alabama Dothan is a city in and the county seat of Houston County, Alabama, Houston County in the U.S. state of Alabama. A slight portion of the city extends into Dale County, Alabama, Dale and Henry County, Alabama, Henry counties. It had a population ...

from 1941 to 1946. He served as the director of the

Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establ ...

from 1946 to 1949. Wolf became a rabbi at the

Wilshire Boulevard Temple The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Wilshire Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded ...

, a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

synagogue in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, from 1949 to 1985. During his tenure, he promoted inter-faith dialogue, even meeting Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1987. Additionally, he established summer camps for Jewish children on the West coast. As early as 1952, he established Camp Hess Kramer in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. Wolf co-founded the Inter-Religious Council of Southern California in 1969. He served as its founding president. During the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, he made sure the organizers added a mosque for Muslim athletes. Wolf served as the founding director of the Skirball Institute on American Values, a program of the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

founded by Jack H. Skirball, from 1985 to 1996.

Personal life

Wolf had a wife, Miriam. They had two sons, Dan and David, and a daughter, Judy Wolf Lee, who predeceased him in 1987.

Death

Wolf died on August 1, 2004, at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in

. He was eighty-eight years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Alfred 1915 births 2004 deaths People from Eberbach (Baden) Rabbis from Los Angeles Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States American Reform rabbis 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis