Mark Hatfield: “today, it is my distinct honor to reflect on the accomplishments of Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, who has been serving as…”

“today, it is my distinct honor to reflect on the accomplishments of Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, who has been serving as our guest Chaplain for this week. Rabbi Haberman's credentials and accomplishments are numerous, but let me take a minute to highlight some of his achievements. Rabbi Haberman is the founder and president of the Foundation for Jewish Studies which sponsors a large variety of Jewish Study programs for the Greater Washington community. He is rabbi emeritus of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, the largest and oldest congregation in the District of Columbia and a past-president of the Washington Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Haberman is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, he was ordained as rabbi at the Hebrew Union College-- Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH, where he also earned the degree of doctor of Hebrew letters. Also of interest regarding his academic background is the fact that he is the last Austrian to be enrolled for rabbinic studies at the Jewish Theological Institute of Vienna and he later left the institute following the Nazi invasion in 1938 and continued his studies in the United States. He is a member of the board of alumni overseers of the HUC-JIR and he has served on the executive board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. In addition he was the cochairman of the North American board of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.”