Jacob Pressman

Jacob Pressman was born on October 26, 1919, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][2] His father was Solomon Pressman and his mother, Dora (Levin) Pressman.[1] Raised in the Jewish faith, he attended Temple Beth Am in Philadelphia.[2]

Pressman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree.[3][4] He attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was ordained as a conservative rabbi in 1945.[1][2][3]

Pressman served as rabbi at Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, New York City, from 1944 to 1946.[1][2][3] In 1946, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he first served as associate rabbi at Sinai Temple until 1950.[1][2] At the time, the senior rabbi was Jacob Kohn (or Cohen).[1][2]

Temple Beth Am in 2015.

In 1950, he became rabbi of the Olympic Jewish Center.[1][2][5] It was renamed Temple Beth Am in 1957.[1][2] Pressman established Beth Am Manor, a low-rent residence for senior citizens as well as the Rabbi Jacob Pressman Academy, a combination of nursery, elementary and secondary schools connected to the synagogue.[1]

Pressman spearheaded the 'Save Soviet Jewry' campaign in 1964, leading to greater awareness of the plight of the Jews in the Soviet Union.[2][4] This in turn led to more immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel.[2] Moreover, he joined Martin Luther King Jr. in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965.[3][4]

Pressman served as President of the Western Region of the Rabbanical Assembly and Chairman of its convention in 1979.[1] Additionally, he served as President of the Board of Rabbis of Los Angeles.[1] He served on the Executive Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.[1] He was also Chair of the Los Angeles campaign for Israel Bonds.[1] Moreover, he was involved with the United Jewish Appeal.[1]

American Jewish University in Bel Air, co-founded by Rabbi Jacob Pressman.

Pressman spearheaded the establishment of Camp Ramah in California, a summer camp in Ojai.[1][5][6] He was a co-founder of the Brandeis-Bardin Camp Institute.[1][6] He served as Chairman of the Los Angeles Zionist Youth Commission.[1] He played a critical role in the founding of the Los Angeles Hebrew High School.[1][6] He was a co-founder of the University of Judaism, later known as the American Jewish University (AJU), located in Bel Air.[1][5][6] He was a recipient of the 2004 Rabbi Simon Greenberg Award from AJU.[3]

Pressman was the founding President of the Maple Counseling Centre, a non-profit organization which offers free counseling sessions, based in Beverly Hills, California.[1] He wrote a weekly column in The Beverly Hills Courier,[5] as well as two books.[3]

Pressman married Marjorie Steinberg in 1942.[1][7] They resided in Beverly Hills, California.[7] One of their sons, Joel, was a Performing Arts teacher and director of the Madrigal Singers at Beverly Hills High School from 1975 to 2013, and died from cancer in 2013.[8] Their second son, Daniel, is a rabbi.[5] They also had a daughter, Judith, who made Aliya to Israel and has been a pioneer of Ma'ale Tzvia community village in the Galilee.[5]

Pressman died in Los Angeles on October 1, 2015. He was ninety-five years old. His funeral was held at Temple Beth Am, and he was buried at the Eden Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles.[9][10]

• This Wild and Crazy World as Seen From Beverly Hills by Rabbi Jack (1999).
• Dear Friends: A Prophetic Journey Through Great Events of the 20th Century (Hoboken, New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, 2002).