[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 133 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2020-E2021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING RABBI ALLEN B. BENNETT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 2004

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of myself and Congressman 
Stark to honor the extraordinary contributions of Rabbi Allen B. 
Bennett of Alameda, California for thirty years of dedicated service to 
the community. Rabbi Bennett, through his tireless efforts as a 
religious and community leader in the Bay Area for over three decades, 
worked not only to improve and enrich the lives of those within his 
congregation, but has also served in that capacity to become a champion 
for peace, justice, and the well-being of all.
  Born in Akron, Ohio, Rabbi Bennett began his post secondary studies 
at Western Reserve University, where he earned a degree in psychology 
in 1968. He then attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of 
Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Hebrew 
Letters in 1972 and a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters as well as 
rabbinical ordination in 1974. After reaching this milestone, Rabbi 
Bennett moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where he began a residency 
program in Clinical Pastoral Education, a certification that would 
allow him to become a hospital chaplain. As a result, he served in the 
Rochester area for over three years, first as a resident, and then as 
the Jewish chaplain for the two hospitals affiliated with the Mayo 
Clinic as well as Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel, the multi-
denominational synagogue in Rochester.
  Following his time of service and education in Minnesota, Rabbi 
Bennett entered into a doctoral program at the Graduate Theological 
Union at the University of California, Berkeley in 1977. There, while 
pursuing a Ph.D. in theology, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, 
he taught various Jewish studies courses at Emeritus College at the 
College of Marin, as well as other Bay Area universities.
  In the years that followed, Rabbi Bennett continued and expanded his 
involvement in the Bay Area Jewish community. In addition to being 
elected rabbi at San Francisco's Congregation Sha'ar Zahav in 1979, he 
was later appointed Assistant Director of the Northern Pacific Regional 
Office of the American Jewish Congress, a capacity in which he served 
until 1989, at which point he became the Congress' Regional Executive 
Director. He later served also as the Executive Director of the Jewish 
Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of the Greater 
East Bay in Oakland, until becoming the Rabbi at Temple Israel in 1996.
  Since that time, Rabbi Bennett's work has been outstanding not only 
within the Temple at which he currently serves, but has also been a 
remarkable force for peace and social justice within the community as a 
whole. In addition to serving the Jewish community, he has been 
involved in an astounding number of civic and interfaith initiatives 
and activities on the local, regional, and national levels. Among these 
activities are his service on the San Francisco Human Rights 
Commission, the Mayor's Committee for a Living Holocaust Memorial, the 
Conference of Black and Jewish Clergy, the San Francisco Interfaith 
Coalition on AIDS, and the Coalition for Civil Rights. Furthermore, was 
the Jewish representative taking testimony at the U.N. sponsored 
Oakland Hearings on Racism as a Violation of Human Rights, and has also 
served on the Board of Most Holy Redeemer AIDS Support Group in San 
Francisco. Rabbi Bennett also currently serves on the Leadership Team 
and the Race and Community Relations Planning Team of the FAITHS 
Initiative of the San Francisco Foundation, the Alameda Hospital Ethics 
Committee and its Institutional Review Board, as Chair of the Alta 
Bates Summit Medical Center Chaplaincy Advisory Board, as Vice 
President of the Board of Rabbis of Northern California, as Treasurer 
of the East Bay Council of Rabbis, and the Union for Reform Judaism's 
Regional Committee on AIDS.
  On November 13, 2004, Rabbi Bennett will be honored in Oakland, 
California for thirty years of truly outstanding service to Temple 
Israel and the greater Bay Area. This occasion is an opportunity for us 
to recognize him not only for his service within the faith community, 
but also for his outstanding leadership on the issues of civil rights, 
social equality, human

[[Page E2021]]

rights, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. By remaining active in and dedicated 
to these important areas, Rabbi Bennett has contributed immeasurably to 
Alameda County and the East Bay, and the 9th and 13th Congressional 
Districts salute and congratulate him for his many years of invaluable 
service.

                          ____________________