Susan Landau-Chark - Concordia University

7
order “that was characterized by peace, brotherhood, and a deep belief in what was then
referred to as ‘the democratic way’." 25 He saw the Seminary as the single greatest Jewish
institution in the world and, as such, the vehicle for bringing the message of Judaism to
the world. 26 Accordingly, seminary programs were put in place by Rabbi Finkelstein to
teach Judaism to American society, open Jewish studies to the findings of other
disciplines, and most of all to train the Seminary's rabbinic graduates to take on the task
of caring for and nurturing the religious and spiritual well-being of the masses of
Conservative congregants. 27 It was in this open and innovative environment that Abraham
Bernard Leffell received his Masters in Hebrew Letters and his Rabbinical Ordination in
1954.
Rabbi Leffell saw the congregation— now the Shaare Zedek Congregation of
Western N.D.G— through some major changes, implementing the switch from separate
seating (as the synagogue had begun as an Orthodox one) to family seating in 1962 -
along with the shift from the Birenbaum Orthodox prayer book to the Conservative
Siddur of Rabbi Morris Silverman, as well as moving from being an Orthodox-affiliated
synagogue to a middle-of-the-road Conservative congregation. 28
It was very likely that Rabbi Leffell was highly influenced by Rabbi Charles
Bender. Rabbi Leffell was Bar Mitzvah at the Adath Israel and it is highly likely that this
event and/or its preparation was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between he and
25
Michael B. Greenbaum, “Apprenticeship as a Leader,” The Finkelstein Era: Tradition
Renewed,
Copyright © 1998-2003 Jewish Theological Seminary of America. [October 17, 2004]
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid. “Key Initiatives.”
[October
17, 2004]
28
Conversation with Leon Penn, Montreal (October 18, 2004)