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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Rabbi Reuven Frankel of Deerfield, who
4passed away on April 24, 2013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Rabbi Frankel was born in Jerusalem; his family
6immigrated to Chicago in 1939; after 2 years in Chicago, his
7family moved to New York and he studied at Brooklyn College; he
8spent time in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chattanooga, Tennessee,
9studying and working before eventually returning to New York to
10study at the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Teleological
11Seminary; and
 
12    WHEREAS, From 1957 to 1967, Rabbi Frankel was the associate
13cantor at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan,
14while earning a bachelor's and master's degree in music from
15Wayne State University; after brief stops in Albany, New York,
16where he spent 2 years as cantor at Temple Israel, and
17Congregation Shaarey Zedek, he became the cantor at
18Congregation Beth El in Highland Park in 1970; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Rabbi Frankel worked as a cantor at synagogues
20around the country for 2 decades, but in 1976, at the age of 45
21and in his sixth year as a cantor at North Suburban Synagogue
22Beth El in Highland Park, he decided to complete his rabbinical

 

 

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1studies he had started as a youth; he studied at the Hebrew
2Theological College in Chicago and was ordained 2 years after
3making his decision to resume his studies; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Rabbi Frankel joined Congregation B'nai Tikvah in
51979 as the rabbi; he retired in 1999; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Rabbi Frankel interpretations of a wide variety of
7Yiddish, Hebrew, and liturgical music led to appearances on
8radio, television, and at universities as a singer and
9lecturer; he recorded several albums and has more than 100
10songs available on iTunes; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Rabbi Frankel was the beloved husband for 59 years
12of Penina (nee Ducoff); the loving father and mentor of Hillel
13(Jennifer Salas), Aaron (Jenny Wittner), and Noam (Laura Sova);
14the adored Zadie of Eli Blair, Caleb and Gabriel Frankel, and
15Lee Sova-Claypool; the cherished brother of the late Naftali
16(Penina) Frankel, the late Esther Davis, the late Devora
17Friend, and the late Yaffa Flitterman; the dear brother-in-law
18of the late Rabbi Bernard (Helen) Ducoff; and the grandfather
19of 4; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
22Rabbi Frankel, and extend our sincere condolences to his

 

 

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1family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
2further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to the family of Rabbi Frankel as an expression of
5our deepest sympathy.