Rabbi Louis Bernstein, 67; Leader Of Orthodox Zionists

Rabbi Louis Bernstein, 67; Leader Of Orthodox Zionists.

Rabbi Louis Bernstein, a leader of American Orthodox Zionists and a three-term president of the Rabbinical Council of America, died Sunday from brain cancer. He was 67.

The feisty yet avuncular rabbi was in the vanguard of Jewish life for more than four decades as pulpit rabbi, Army chaplain, university professor, camp director, newspaper columnist and a prominent participant within the highest levels of international Zionist activity.

A graduate of Yeshiva University's college and rabbinical school, Rabbi Bernstein served as professor of Jewish studies at the university for more than 40 years.

At the overflow funeral service on Monday at the Young Israel of Windsor Park in Queens, where Rabbi Bernstein served as spiritual leader for 40 years, he was eulogized by his children and rabbinical colleagues, including Dr. Norman Lamm, president of Yeshiva University and a close personal friend.

Speaker after speaker recalled Bernstein as a man of principle who was never afraid to speak out for what he believed in, championing the causes of religious Zionism, centrist Orthodoxy and Yeshiva University. His guiding force was the truth, they said, and though he scrapped with many along the way, he had few enemies because even those who disagreed with him recognized that the differences were never personal.

Dr. Lamm, upon bestowing an honorary degree on Rabbi Bernstein last Chanukah, called him "A deeply committed spiritual guide and a touchingly devoted teacher, beloved by the hundreds of students who...