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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois 
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were saddened to learn of the death of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman, 
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formerly of Chicago, on Monday, November 24, 2003; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Rabbi Fasman was born in Chicago and was the 
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descendant of a European rabbinical ancestry; as a boy, he was 
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hired as a guide by a blind rabbi who encouraged him to attend 
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theological school; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Rabbi Fasman graduated from Hebrew Theological 
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College in 1929; in 1930, he graduated from the University of 
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Chicago and married his wife, Jeanette, whom he had met through 
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his rabbi; they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he became the 
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rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue; in 1940, he moved to 
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Ottawa, Canada, to oversee five orthodox synagogues; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Rabbi Fasman returned to Chicago six years later 
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to serve as president of the Hebrew Theological College, 
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becoming the first American-born and American-trained rabbi to 
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head a leading Orthodox Jewish theological seminary in the 
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country; he was instrumental in building its Skokie campus when 
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the school relocated from Chicago's West Side in 1957; the 
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college honored him in 1964 with appointment as its president 
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emeritus and again 17 years later when it named its preparatory 
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high school for young men after him; and
 
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    WHEREAS, After retiring from the college, Rabbi Fasman 
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founded Congregation Yehuda Moshe; he also served from 1977 to 
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1982 as president of Associated Talmud Torahs, which is the 
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central agency for Jewish education in Chicago; in 1998, he 
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moved to California to be closer to his family; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The passing of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman has been 
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deeply felt by many, especially his sons, Chaim and Reuven; his 
 


 









SR0353
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LRB093 14747 HSS 40295 r







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daughters, Avis Sugarman and Millicent Drebin; his 15 
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grandchildren; his 52 great-grandchildren; and his three 
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great-great grandchildren; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of 
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Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman, whose legacy of communal responsibility 
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and leadership will endure forever; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman as an 
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expression of our sincerest condolences.