Allen Bennett
Country
United States
Birth - Death
1946 -
Occupation
Religion
Description
First reform rabbi to openly declare himself gay (1978). Attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform Jewish seminary) in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters in 1972 and a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters as well as rabbinical ordination in 1974. In 1979 he was elected Rabbi at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, where he officiated at the funeral of Harvey Milk. Assistant Director of the Northern Pacific Regional office of the American Jewish Congress, a position he held for five years, until becoming Regional Executive Director in 1989. From July 1993 until August 1996 he served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, headquartered in Oakland, California. In 1996, he became the Rabbi at Temple Israel in Alameda, California. Born Allen Blumenstein.
