April 20, 2009

Rabbi Ed Rosenthal to Leave Cornell’s Campus After Eight Years

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Campus Rabbi and Executive Director of Cornell Hillel Ed Rosenthal announced his resignation last Friday. After eight years at Cornell, Rosenthal said in his farewell letter that he and his wife Mindy would be leaving Ithaca in June for personal reasons. He also entreated the Jewish community to continue on the path it is on, writing “because of your devotion and support we are today one of the strongest Hillels in the country.”
Cornell Hillel’s website boasts a vibrant Jewish community at Cornell with 30 Jewish student-run groups on campus.
Oren Hirsh ’09, president of KOACH, a Jewish student group on campus, said, “I think Rabbi Ed’s departure is going to be a great loss for the Jewish community here at Cornell.” Hirsch added that Rosenthal always made himself available to the community, giving the example that Rosenthal even set aside time to collaborate with students on the night before his daughter’s Bat-Mitzvah.
Rosenthal is the advisor for KOACH, and Hirsch said that Rosenthal put a lot of time and effort behind the scenes to make the Jewish community work but at the same time he gave students the chance to do things that they may not necessarily have had the opportunity to do at other universities.
In his farewell letter, Rosenthal expressed fondness over his time here at Cornell and thanked students, faculty, staff and administrators for the last eight years.