Albert L. Lewis

Who was Albert L. Lewis?

Rabbi Albert L. Lewis was a leading American Conservative rabbi, scholar, and author; President of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international organization of Conservative rabbis; and Vice-President of The World Council of Synagogues. In 2009, the award-winning author, Mitch Albom, wrote about Lewis, his childhood rabbi, as the main character in the non-fiction book, Have a Little Faith. The book, hailed as a story of faith that inspires faith in others, concludes with the eulogy that Albom delivered at Lewis's funeral, on February 12, 2008.

Lewis received a bachelor's degree in education from Yeshiva College; a masters degree in education from City College of New York; and a masters degree in Hebrew literature, a doctorate in Rabbinic Studies, and rabbinic ordination, from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He continued his studies at Dropsie College, now the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, in Philadelphia, and, well known for the power of his sermons and his skills as an orator, taught homiletics in the JTS rabbinical school for ten years.