[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 76 (Tuesday, June 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1006-E1007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO RABBI GERALD RAISKIN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 5, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great pleasure to honor 
Rabbi Gerald Raiskin, who is celebrating 50 years in the Rabbinate and 
45 years as Rabbi of Peninsula Temple Sholom.
  Rabbi Raiskin's life of service began in New York's lower East Side 
where he attended Seward Park High School, Herezliah Hebrew High School 
and Brooklyn College. His exemplary dedication to duty was evident from 
the early age of 18, when Gerald Raiskin answered his country's call 
and enlisted in the United States Army. He soon earned the rank of 
Private First Class and served with distinction in the 80th Infantry 
Division of the United States Army. Gerald Raiskin was awarded the 
Combat Infantry Badge and two Battle Stars for heroic combat duty, 
which included the capture of Hitler's Austrian birthplace and 
engagement in hostilities at the outskirts of the Buchenwald 
Concentration Camp, where the young soldier observed the bodies of 
inmates who were killed in the nearby woods as he marched towards the 
camp. When the war in Europe ended, Rabbi Raiskin's outstanding 
academic record afforded him the opportunity to attend the University 
of Geneva, where he studied art and political science before returning 
home to Brooklyn.
  Gerald Raiskin's path to the rabbinate began in earnest with his 
commitment to Reform Judaism and enrollment in the Jewish Institute of 
Religion's Rabbinical School in 1948. He was both an illustrious and 
industrious student who served as a student rabbi in several 
congregations while writing a thesis and preparing for written and oral 
examinations for the Master of Hebrew Literature Degree. On weekends, 
then student rabbi Raiskin tended both a reluctant furnace and a 
willing new congregation in East Hartford, Connecticut. On the High 
Holy Days he was assigned to conduct Conservative services in Lake 
Hopatcong, New Jersey, a bungalow community where Rabbi Raiskin served 
as rabbi, cantor, torah reader and blew the shofar. In addition, he 
organized a religious school in Merrick, Long Island, and taught Hebrew 
to children in Trenton, New Jersey and was awarded two academic prizes 
before his ordination in June, 1951.
  Mr. Speaker, after his ordination Rabbi Raiskin traveled to the new 
state of Israel, where he lived in Jerusalem and continued his 
religious studies at the Hebrew University. When heavy rains in 
December of 1951 devastated the encampments of immigrants from North 
Africa and Romania, Rabbi Raiskin was sent to Afula, where he aided and 
eased the suffering by providing clothing that had been sent by Jewish 
organizations from the United States.
  Rabbi Raiskin returned from Israel in 1952 to work for the Union of 
American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) as the Director of the Chicago 
Federation of Temple Youth. He also served as the Director of the 
Union's Institute which was the first camp owned by the UAHC in 
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (now know as the Olin-Sang-Ruby Camp). In 1953, 
just in time for High Holy Days, Rabbi Raiskin joined the Stephen Wise 
Free Synagogue where he started a senior citizens group, increased 
attendance at the young adult groups, and strengthened the religious 
school.
  The yearning for a congregation of his own was answered in 1956 when 
Rabbi Raiskin received an early morning telephone call asking him to 
consider becoming the spiritual leader of the Peninsula Temple Sholom. 
On August 1, 1956 Peninsula Temple Sholom's first rabbi arrived in San 
Mateo to begin 45 years of humanitarian work that has extended well 
beyond the walls of the temple.
  Mr. Speaker, Rabbi Gerald Raiskin today is recognized as one of the 
great leaders of San Mateo County. He built the congregation of 
Peninsula Temple Sholom from very humble beginnings to a congregation 
of over 700 families, while constantly working to advance civil rights 
at home and abroad. In March of 1965 Rabbi Raiskin participated in the 
Civil Rights March to Montgomery with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rabbi 
Raiskin was arrested on several occasions for protesting in front of 
the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco on behalf of Jews in the Soviet 
Union. He risked his own safety to bring humanitarian aid in the form 
of medical supplies and books on Judaica to refuseniks in Kiev, 
Leningrad and Moscow. Here at home, Rabbi Raiskin has been integral to 
interfaith efforts that have greatly benefitted the 12th Congressional 
District which I am privileged to serve.
  Rabbi Raiskin has aptly been described as ``a role model, a true 
community leader, an incredible teacher and an all around mensch.'' He 
is a loving husband to Helen, a devoted father to Sherman, Rhonda, 
Judith and Jordana and a doting grandfather to Marni, Jamie, Dana, 
Marcy, Jeremy and Eli. His spiritual

[[Page E1007]]

leadership has brought joy, peace and comfort to generations of 
Peninsula Temple Sholom members.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Rabbi 
Raiskin on fifty years of service in the rabbinate, commending his 
half-century of humanitarian and public service and wishing him and his 
family many more years of richly deserved good health and happiness.

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