Full Text of SR0732 095th General Assembly
SR0732 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of
Rabbi Dr. Moses Mescheloff of Chicago, | 4 |
| who passed away on May 9, 2008; and
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| WHEREAS, Rabbi Dr. Moses Mescheloff was born in New York | 6 |
| City in 1909; he entered the Talmudical Academy of Rabbi Isaac | 7 |
| Elchanan Theological Seminary at the age of 13 and was the | 8 |
| school's first native English-speaking student; he received | 9 |
| his ordination in 1932 and graduated with high honors, | 10 |
| including Phi Beta Kappa, from the City College of New York the | 11 |
| same year; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1935, Rabbi Mescheloff married the former Magda | 13 |
| Schonfeld; together, they would ultimately have 3 children, 16 | 14 |
| grandchildren, and 55 great-grandchildren; and
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| WHEREAS, After holding pulpits in Scranton, Pennsylvania | 16 |
| and North Adams, Massachusetts, Rabbi Mescheloff was invited to | 17 |
| become the first rabbi at Beth Jacob Congregation, in Miami | 18 |
| Beach, Florida, the only congregation in Miami Beach at that | 19 |
| time, in 1937; as rabbi, he took a primary role in establishing | 20 |
| institutions that led to the rapid growth of the area's Jewish | 21 |
| community, including kosher food, a mikvah, adult education | 22 |
| courses, a Hebrew school, and Jewish women's organizations; he |
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| also helped to establish a good relationship between the city's | 2 |
| fledgling Jewish community and its non-Jews and was featured on | 3 |
| several long-running radio shows; and
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| WHEREAS, During World War II, Rabbi Mescheloff became a | 5 |
| civilian chaplain, counseling soldiers in the field and their | 6 |
| wives and parents at home; he also served as a member of the | 7 |
| delegation attempting to save European Jewish refugees on the | 8 |
| ship St. Louis, joining other leading rabbis in an attempt to | 9 |
| allow the refugees to enter the United States; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1954, Rabbi Mescheloff came to Chicago in time | 11 |
| to celebrate Chanukah with his new congregation of Congregation | 12 |
| K.I.N.S. of West Rogers Park; in addition to his long tenure at | 13 |
| K.I.N.S. and the many organizational positions he held, he also | 14 |
| wrote articles for a number of magazines, both scholarly and | 15 |
| popular; in 1980, he received the degree of Doctor of Hebrew | 16 |
| Letters from the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, In addition to his position at K.I.N.S., where he | 18 |
| was rabbi emeritus at the time of his death, Rabbi Mescheloff | 19 |
| held many other posts in Chicago; he was a past president of | 20 |
| the Chicago Rabbinical Council, the Religious Zionist Council, | 21 |
| and the Chicago Board of Rabbis; he was also a member of | 22 |
| numerous other organizations and was involved in many public | 23 |
| causes in both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities; and
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| WHEREAS, Rabbi Mescheloff is survived by his wife of 73 | 2 |
| years, Magda; his children, Renah (Rabbi Alexander) Bell, Rabbi | 3 |
| Dr. Efraim (Felice) Mescheloff, and Rabbi Dr. David (Irene) | 4 |
| Mescheloff; and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and
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| WHEREAS, Rabbi Mescheloff will be remembered by all who | 6 |
| knew and loved him as a man of great dignity and kindness who | 7 |
| was able to create connections between people, both between | 8 |
| Jews and other Jews and, when necessary, between the Jewish and | 9 |
| non-Jewish community; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 11 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 12 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Rabbi Dr. Moses | 13 |
| Mescheloff; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 |
| presented to the family of Rabbi Dr. Moses Mescheloff as an | 16 |
| expression of our sympathy.
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