Louis Finkelstein

Born in Cincinnati, Louis Finkelstein received his Jewish education from his father, an Orthodox rabbi. He attended both Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he taught for more than half a century, serving as its head from 1940 to 1972. Under his direction, the seminary grew tremendously, emerging as the chief institution in Conservative Judaism. Finkelstein himself was the dominant figure in the movement before his retirement and took an active role in American public life, especially in interfaith dialogue.