ABSTRACT
Robert Gordis, while an active and busy congregational rabbi, was professor of Bible and of Jewish philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary and visiting professor at various universities and seminaries, and leading exponent of the philosophy of Conservative Judaism. Gordis served as rabbi at a large congregation for thirty-eight years. He established the first Conservative all-day school in the United States, now named the Robert Gordis Day School of Belle Harbor. His study of the Wisdom books in depth, however, inevitably gave Gordis insight into many aspects of biblical scholarship in general. He believed in the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also in God who is the creator of Adam and Eve, the progenitors of all mankind, of all men and women made in the image of God. Gordis calls attention to the fact that forty offenses are listed, "all are ethical sins, not one a ritual transgression".
