Leon S. Lang (c. 1899-1956) was an American

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and former president of the

Rabbinical Assembly The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, an ...

in 1941.

Biography

Ordained as a rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1927, Lang served as the inaugural editor of the quarterly journal of the Rabbinical Assembly, ''

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

''. He was "internationally known as chairman of the Chaplaincy Availability board of the Rabbinical Assembly of America" as he collaborated with the U.S. Defense department in recruiting military chaplains and also represented the Jewish Welfare Board to the American armed forces. Lang began serving as the full-time rabbi of Congregation Sons of Israel in (

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...

) in 1925, two years prior to the recorded date of his ordination. He declared the congregation as committed to "Traditional Judaism", somewhere between

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 ...

and

Orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

—a stance that would change later as the congregation joined the United Synagogue of America (later renamed the

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

). Lang began to serve Oheb Shalom Congregation in Newark, NJ (now in South Orange, NJ) as its Assistant Rabbi in 1927 (serving alongside the Senior Rabbi, Charles I. Hoffman) and continued in his position for 12 years. During this tenure, Lang is credited with founding Kadimah (perhaps the very same organization now known today as

Kadima Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

, the subsidiary of

) and developing youth programming and reinvigorating the community's Men's Club. Lang served as a President of National

Young Judea Young Judaea is a peer-led Zionist youth movement that runs programs throughout the United States for Jewish youth in grades 2–12. In Hebrew, Young Judaea is called ''Yehuda Hatzair'' (יהודה הצעיר) or is sometimes referred to as ''Ha ...

and, in 1950, as the Chairman of the Rabbinical Assembly Fund for the Seminary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Leon 1899 births 1956 deaths Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni 20th-century American rabbis