SR0353 LRB093 14747 HSS 40295 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois
3 were saddened to learn of the death of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman,
4 formerly of Chicago, on Monday, November 24, 2003; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Rabbi Fasman was born in Chicago and was the
6 descendant of a European rabbinical ancestry; as a boy, he was
7 hired as a guide by a blind rabbi who encouraged him to attend
8 theological school; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Rabbi Fasman graduated from Hebrew Theological
10 College in 1929; in 1930, he graduated from the University of
11 Chicago and married his wife, Jeanette, whom he had met through
12 his rabbi; they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he became the
13 rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue; in 1940, he moved to
14 Ottawa, Canada, to oversee five orthodox synagogues; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Rabbi Fasman returned to Chicago six years later
16 to serve as president of the Hebrew Theological College,
17 becoming the first American-born and American-trained rabbi to
18 head a leading Orthodox Jewish theological seminary in the
19 country; he was instrumental in building its Skokie campus when
20 the school relocated from Chicago's West Side in 1957; the
21 college honored him in 1964 with appointment as its president
22 emeritus and again 17 years later when it named its preparatory
23 high school for young men after him; and
 
24     WHEREAS, After retiring from the college, Rabbi Fasman
25 founded Congregation Yehuda Moshe; he also served from 1977 to
26 1982 as president of Associated Talmud Torahs, which is the
27 central agency for Jewish education in Chicago; in 1998, he
28 moved to California to be closer to his family; and
 
29     WHEREAS, The passing of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman has been
30 deeply felt by many, especially his sons, Chaim and Reuven; his

 

 

SR0353 - 2 - LRB093 14747 HSS 40295 r

1 daughters, Avis Sugarman and Millicent Drebin; his 15
2 grandchildren; his 52 great-grandchildren; and his three
3 great-great grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
4     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
5 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
6 Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman, whose legacy of communal responsibility
7 and leadership will endure forever; and be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to the family of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman as an
10 expression of our sincerest condolences.