Rodef Shalom

Dr. Walter Jacob

As he works to reestablish Reform Judaism in Germany—whose ambassador knighted him with a medal for his services—Walter Jacob remains active with Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh, which he joined in 1955 as Assistant Rabbi. After a promotion to Associate Rabbi, Dr. Jacob became Rabbi of the Congregation in 1967, a position he held until 1996, at the arrival of an Interim Rabbi, Rabbi Michael Remson, followed by the arrival of Rabbi Aaron Bisno. His leadership in the Reform Movement also includes the presidency of the Solomon B. Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah, an international forum for Jewish law.

He also heads the Associated American Jewish Museums, which organizes free art exhibits for synagogues and Jewish centers, and the Abraham Geiger College in Germany, the first rabbinic seminary in Central Europe since the Holocaust. Earlier, Dr. Jacob was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and has written extensively on interfaith relations and Jewish law. Dr. Jacob earned a bachelor's degree from Drury College in Springfield, MO. His M.H.L., Rabbinic Ordination, D.H.L., and D.D., were all earned at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, OH.