By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

About 900 people fill the Plum Street Temple Sunday for the inauguration of HUC's eighth president, Rabbi David Ellenson. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

An estimated 900 people - including at least 250 religious leaders and professors from around the world - turned out Sunday downtown to see Rabbi David Ellenson formally inaugurated as president of the nation's oldest institution of Jewish higher education.

They packed the Plum Street Temple to see Rabbi Ellenson inducted as the eighth president in the 127-year history of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Clifton.

"We must not allow the uncertainty of our own age to paralyze us. Our contemporary efforts at the College-Institute must be no less than those of our predecessors," Rabbi Ellenson said during his inauguration address.

"We must employ our passion and our imagination, as well as our knowledge, to chart the course of Jewish spiritual and communal life for our own time as well as for the future," he said.

Rabbi Ellenson was named president of HUC in June 2001, overseeing a seminary and graduate school that has campuses in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, New York and Jerusalem.

A historical Torah has a role in the ceremonies. Rabbi Robert Levine (left) and Rabbi Wolli Kaelter (center) pass the sacred book to Rabbi Ellenson. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

The college trains rabbis, cantors, educators and communal service professionals for the Reform movement worldwide and offers graduate programs for scholars of all faiths. Reform Jews adhere to beliefs and practices embodied in the Torah and other Jewish sacred writings, but recognize sacred heritage has evolved and adapted over the centuries.

The induction comes amid a shortage of rabbis, a growing number of Reform Jews and rising violence in Israel.

As part of his address, Rabbi Ellenson discussed creating an Institute for Advanced Studies, "where all types of persons - Jews and non-Jews, academics and activists, clergy and laity - of different viewpoints and convictions could come together" and find ways to implement their beliefs into policies and programs.

"Our effort would be directed toward applied knowledge," he said after the 2‡ hour inauguration ceremony. "The initiative would be to create polices that would direct our community."

The new institute would focus on current issues, such as interfaith marriages, and how they affect society, he said. The institute is only in the beginning stages.

His speech ended with a standing ovation from the crowd.

"I think it's a wonderful vision," said Alan Cook, who is studying to be a rabbi at the Cincinnati campus. "He recognizes our changing society and really focused on having a plan and a path for our future."

Burton Lehman, chairman of the HUC board of governors, said Rabbi Ellenson's background - including being a member of the HUC faculty since 1979 - will help him hone the college's mission.

"I think he is still evolving his vision for the future, but I know he has tremendous commitment to the excellence of education the college provides," Mr. Lehman said. "We're just very lucky to have someone of Rabbi Ellenson's character. ... He's a tremendously dynamic, warm and very wonderful leader."

Deborah Bock, who is getting joint master's degrees in Jewish education and Jewish communal service at the Los Angeles campus, helped carry the Torah into the temple at the beginning of the ceremony.

"It was a blessing and an honor to be part of this historical moment," Ms. Bock said. "To be linked to him today made me feel like I also am part of (the Reform movement's) larger link."

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com