Name William Kaufman | Role Rabbi | |
Books A question of faith, Contemporary Jewish philosophies, The evolving God in Jewish process theology, The case for God Education Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Boston University | ||
William E. Kaufman is an American Conservative Jewish rabbi, theologian and author. His 1991 book, The Case for God, was the first on Jewish process theology.
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Education
Kaufman graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1964. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston University in 1971. He received an honorary doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1990.
Rabbinic career
From 1964–1967 he was Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1967 he assumed the rabbinical post at Congregation Bnai Israel in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he served until 1980. From 1980–82 he was Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim in San Antonio Texas]]. In 1982 he was installed as Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Fall River, Massachusetts, where he served until his retirement in November 2005. Upon his retirement, he was named Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth El.
He is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international association of Conservative rabbis.
He married Nathalie Levin in 1965. They have a son, Ari, and a daughter, Beth.
Works
He has published many articles in Judaism (quarterly journal), Conservative Judaism (quarterly journal), The Reconstructionist (quarterly journal), and The Jewish Spectator (newspaper.)
One of his projects has been to create a Jewish process theology, viewing Jewish theology through the panentheistic process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead.