Robert Gordis (February 6, 1908 – January 3, 1992) was an American leading
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
. He founded the first Conservative Jewish day school, served as President of the
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, a ...
and the Synagogue Council of America, and was a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1940 to 1992.
He wrote one of the first pamphlets explaining Conservative ideology in 1946, and in 1988 he chaired the Commission on the Philosophy of Conservative Judaism which produced the official statement of Conservative ideology "Emet Ve-Emunah".
Gordis was the founding editor in 1951 of the quarterly journal ''Judaism''.
Books
* ''Koheleth -- The Man and his World: A Study of Ecclesiastes (Schocken Books, 1951)''
* ''The Song of Songs: A Study, Modern Translation and Commentary (The Jewish Theological Seminary, 1954)''
* ''The Book of Job: Commentary, New Translation, Special Studies ( Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1978)''
* ''Love and Sex: A Modern Jewish Perspective (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1978)''