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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/59034/full/59034/joseph-gitin-worlds-oldest-reform-rabbi-dies-at-104/ <br /><br /> <b>Joseph Gitin, world’s oldest Reform rabbi, dies at 104</b> <br /> Thursday, August 26, 2010 | by dan pine <br /><br /><p>He was the world’s oldest Reform rabbi.</p> <p>When he died Aug. 16 in San Francisco at the age of 104, Rabbi Joseph Gitin had few challengers to that record. Admirable as long life may be, Gitin’s family and friends remember the rabbi not so much for his longevity as for his century’s worth of good deeds.</p> <p>“He never put judgments in front of people,” said his daughter, Judi Harris. “He put forth love, wisdom and knowledge, and said people would come to that.”</p> <p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 233px;"><img alt="gobit_gitlin_joseph_336" class="left" height="336" src="http://www.jweekly.com/images/uploads/gobit_gitlin_joseph_336.jpg" title="Rabbi Joseph Gitin" width="233" /> <div class="caption">Rabbi Joseph Gitin</div> </div> Come they did, most notably to San Jose’s Temple Emanu-El, for which Gitin served as senior rabbi from 1950 until 1976. Long before it became politically correct, he led the local Jewish community in the fight for civil rights, gay and lesbian rights and acceptance of interfaith couples.</p> <p>Gitin was instrumental in the founding of Camp Swig and served as “dean” there for many happy summers. He also served on the boards of the Santa Clara County Heart Association, the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts of America and Good Samaritan Hospital, and was chaplain for the San Jose Fire Department.</p> <p>The résumé tells only part of the story. Gitin was also a consummate family man who brought his sense of ethics to the dinner table.</p> <p>“He was a wonderful father,” said Harris. “He demanded at dinner we talk about politics and world affairs. If you had an opinion, you had to support it.”</p> <p>Gitin even insisted his two children visit local churches so they would learn about their Christian neighbors. “He was a great believer that knowledge would bring understanding, and ignorance hate,” added Harris.</p> <p>He was born in Rochester, N.Y., the son of an Orthodox rabbi and descendant of a long line of rabbis and cantors. Though he took to Judaism and Yiddishkeit, as he matured Gitin found himself drawn to Reform Judaism. He studied for the rabbinate at the Reform seminary in Cincinnati, supporting himself by selling beer at Reds games. After ordination in 1932, he landed his first post, at an Orthodox shul in Buffalo, N.Y.</p> <p>While there he met Rosalie Carl, a schoolteacher. The two were soon married. They moved west, and for seven years Gitin served as a rabbi in Butte, Mont. At the time he was the only rabbi in Big Sky country.    </p> <p>   He later headed Hillel centers in Chapel Hill, N.C., and at U.C. Berkeley before a short stint as rabbi for a Stockton congregation. Then, in 1950, he came to Temple Emanu-El in San Jose. That’s where Gitin flourished for the next quarter-century.</p> <p>   Beyond expanding the congregation dramatically, among his proudest achievements was his tireless work for civil rights. Gitin once told his congregation back in the ’60s, “If you’re not for equal housing, you don’t belong in this shul.”</p> <p>He was one of the first local rabbis to support the gay and lesbian community and to officiate at interfaith marriages. Said Harris, “He wanted to keep people and not lose them” from the Jewish community.</p> <p>Eleven years ago, Gitin and his wife moved to San Francisco assisted-living center Coventry Park, where he remained engaged and active. Even after the death of his beloved Rosalie after 70 years of marriage, he took an unflagging interest in the world, as well as his family and many friends.</p> <p>Though long retired, he never stopped being a rabbi. In January 2008, at the age of 102, he co-officiated at the wedding of his granddaughter, Lori Gitin, who was married at Coventry Park.</p> <p>Remembered Harris of that day: “It was the most amazing thing to see her walk in with her white dress, and all these older people were totally thrilled and amazed.”</p> <p>On the occasion of his 100th birthday, Gitin told j. in an interview, “The underlying reason for my being a rabbi was having the opportunity to help people. The human aspects meant so much to me, to influence people to be good.”</p> <p>Rabbi Joseph Gitin is survived by his daughter, Judi Elman Harris of San Francisco; son David Gitin of Goodyear, Ariz., five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A public memorial will take place 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, at Temple Emanu-El, 1010 University Ave., San Jose. Donations may be sent to the Rabbi Joseph Gitin Scholarship Fund for Interfaith Families c/o Camp Newman, 235 Montgomery St., #1120, S.F., CA 94104.</p>

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