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92_HR0870
LRB9216698RHrhB
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wishes to congratulate Rabbi Herman E.
4 Schaalman on receiving the prestigious Order of Lincoln Award
5 from the Lincoln Academy of Illinois for his lifelong
6 devotion and dedication to the betterment of mankind and for
7 his leadership and humanitarian efforts for the residents of
8 Illinois; and
9 WHEREAS, The Lincoln Award honors those individuals whose
10 contributions to the betterment of mankind have been
11 accomplished in or on behalf of the State of Illinois, or
12 whose achievements have brought honor to the State because of
13 their identity with it, or by their dedication to those
14 principles of democracy and humanity as exemplified by the
15 great Abraham Lincoln; and
16 WHEREAS, Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman was born in 1916 in
17 Munich, Germany; he is married to Lotta, and the father of
18 Susan Youdovin and Michael Schaalman, the grandfather of
19 five, and great-grandfather of one; he was ordained in 1941
20 as Rabbi at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
21 Religion in Cincinnati; and
22 WHEREAS, Rabbi Schaalman's first pulpit was in Cedar
23 Rapids, Iowa, where he served from 1941-1949; while there he
24 taught at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon as an adjunct
25 professor and at Coe College in Cedar Rapids; he also created
26 a radio program with the editor of the newspaper and the
27 President of Coe College; and
28 WHEREAS, Having served on a temporary basis as director
29 of the Midwest Federation of the Union of American Hebrew
30 Congregations (UAHC) while in Cedar Rapids, he was asked by
31 then President of the UAHC, Maurice N. Eisendrath, to become
32 the regional Director of the Union in Chicago and the Midwest
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1 area; he assumed that position in 1949; and
2 WHEREAS, Soon after his arrival in Chicago, Rabbi
3 Schaalman was able to pursue a vision of creating a camp for
4 the young people of the Reform Movement; he served as its
5 director in 1950-1951 and continues to serve on the Board of
6 Governors of the Union Institute and on the National Camp
7 Committee of the Union; this eventuated in the acquisition of
8 what is now known as the Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute at
9 Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, a retreat and camp ground for young
10 people and adults during the entire year; and
11 WHEREAS, With his knowledge and expertise, Rabbi
12 Schaalman was instrumental in establishing like sites
13 throughout the entire community; and
14 WHEREAS, Herman Schaalman was elected Senior Rabbi of
15 Emanuel Congregation in 1955, succeeding the renowned Rabbi
16 Felix Levy and served in this position until 1986 when he
17 became Rabbi Emeritus, a position he holds to this day; and
18 WHEREAS, In Chicago, the Rabbi continued his academic
19 pursuits, sponsored in part by the Jewish Chautauqua Society,
20 at such places as Barat College, DePaul University, the
21 Divine Word Seminary, and North Park Seminary; he has been
22 and is an adjunct professor at Garret Evangelical Theological
23 Seminary at Northwestern University since 1957 and at Chicago
24 Theological Seminary on the campus of the University of
25 Chicago since 1986; and
26 WHEREAS, Rabbi Schaalman served three terms on the Board
27 of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
28 Chicago; he is currently the chair of the Advisory Committee
29 of the American Jewish Committee and a member of the National
30 Jewish Communal Affairs Committee; he is a past president and
31 current board member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, the
32 Chicago Association of Reform Rabbis, the Central Conference
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1 of American Rabbis, the Council of Religious Leaders of
2 Metropolitan Chicago, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs,
3 and the Edgewater Association of Clergy and Rabbis; and
4 WHEREAS, Rabbi Schaalman is a member of the Human
5 Relations Commission of the city of Chicago, the Education
6 Committee of the National Holocaust Manorial in Washington,
7 D.C., and the Board of the Millennium Institute; he served on
8 the Board of Overseers of the Hebrew Union College- Jewish
9 Institute of Religion and was Vice-President of the World
10 Union for Progressive Judaism and the Association of Reform
11 Zionists of America; he also served as the first chairman of
12 the broadcasting commission of the Chicago Board of Rabbis
13 and hosted some of its television programs; and
14 WHEREAS, Rabbi Schaalman served as Chairman of the Ethics
15 Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the
16 Committee on Mixed Marriage of the CCAR, and the Committee on
17 Patrilineal Descent of the CCAR; and
18 WHEREAS, In 1969 Rabbi Schaalman received an honorary
19 degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Hebrew Union
20 College-Jewish Institute of Religion; in 1995 the late
21 Cardinal Bernadin conferred upon him the Degree of Laureate
22 in Ecumenism of the Archdiocese of Chicago and received an
23 Honorary Doctoral Degree from the Catholic Theological Union
24 of Chicago in 2000; in addition, the President of Germany
25 conferred upon him in 1991 the Order of Merit, First Class;
26 and
27 WHEREAS, Rabbi Schaalman was an honoree of the Hebrew
28 University of Jerusalem and of the Israel Cancer Research
29 Association; he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the
30 Jewish Community Centers and was named as Outstanding Foreign
31 Born Citizen of Chicago by the Immigrant Service League; in
32 addition, the Rabbi is a member of the Executive Committee of
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1 the Council of the Parliament of Word Religions; in January
2 of 1999, the City of Chicago named the block of Sheridan Road
3 in front of Emmanuel Congregation in honor of Rabbi and Mrs.
4 Schaalman; and
5 WHEREAS, The late Cardinal Bernadin had designated the
6 Rabbi to conduct a Memorial for him in the Cathedral on the
7 second day of his lying in state, a historically
8 unprecedented happening; the Rabbi is also a member of the
9 Catholic-Jewish Scholars Dialogue; and
10 WHEREAS, Rabbi Herman Schaalman has shown human dignity
11 and kindness to all that he has come in contact with, and
12 enriched the lives of many through his divine leadership and
13 human compassion; therefore, be it
14 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16 we congratulate Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman on receiving the
17 prestigious Order of Lincoln Award from the Lincoln Academy
18 of Illinois for his lifelong devotion and dedication to the
19 betterment of mankind; and be it further
20 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21 presented to Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman as an expression of
22 our esteem.