Sad News – Rabbi Dr. David Ellenson z’l

It is with sadness that we share the news of the death of Rabbi Dr. David Ellenson, former President and Chancellor Emeritus of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbis Moskovitz and Brown were blessed to study in his classroom and benefit from his extraordinary leadership. His love of the Jewish people was enormous and his menschlikeit extraordinary.  The impact of his teaching in our world is immeasurable. The Jewish world has lost a giant.

Rabbi Ellenson was Rabbi Moskovitz’ Rabbinic Thesis advisor and though physically distant they enjoyed a close personal relationship for nearly 30 years. Rabbi Dan remembers with great appreciation sitting at David’s breakfast table every Wednesday morning for the better part of a year as they worked closely on the text of his thesis (Sacred Remnants – Response of the Shoah).

Rabbi Ellenson was the Rabbi who gave semicha (rabbinic ordination) to Rabbi Brown in 2005. She would often run into David at LaGuardia airport on Sunday evenings after she returned from her bi-weekly student pulpit near Pittsburgh and he from a visit on behalf of the college. He would always offer a ride back to Manhattan and share amazing insights into Torah, the Jewish people, and general pearls of wisdom. She was fortunate to sit in his classroom once more this past summer during the Rabbinic Torah Seminar at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

The funeral was held held at 11 a.m. (ET), Sunday, December 10, at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York.

David was truly one of the G’dolai HaDor (great people of a generation), may his torah and his example live on as a blessing for generations to come.