Touro remembers Bernard Lander on his first yartzeit

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Dr. Bernard Lander was one of the longest-serving college administrators in the country, leading Touro College from its founding in 1971 until his death at age 94 last February. A rabbi and sociologist by training, he used his Jewish and secular careers to create and nurture a leading institution of learning in the Jewish community.

“Judaism has a tradition of universal literacy that has served us well,” said Touro College President Dr. Alan Kadish. “Traditional Judaism also places importance on precedent and respect for tradition, but that does not mean we are static. Each generation produces new scholars.”

On the first anniversary of his passing, Touro College honored Dr. Lander with a series of lectures by Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau, kicking off on Feb. 3 at Lander College for Women in Manhattan.

“This will be a weekend of inspiration as we celebrate the legacy and life of a great Jewish leader,” said Dr. Mark Hasten, chairman of the Touro Board of Trustees. “A man like Dr. Bernard Lander comes along once in a generation, or perhaps once in many generations.”

The evening lecture was attended by a number of prominent individuals including Israeli Consul General Ido Aharoni, Orthodox Union President Simcha Katz, and Rabbi Moshe Tendler of Yeshiva University.

“We first met when Touro was a dream not yet dreamed and our relationship has grown closer over the years,” said Rabbi Tendler. “His daughter goes to my school and my daughter Michelle teaches at Touro.”

Rabbi Tendler recalled Dr. Lander’s visits to his Monsey home, coupled with offers to work at Touro. “He’d tempt me to be a dean at one of his new schools, but I have a school.”

The keynote speaker, Rabbi Lau, connected the silver trumpets of parshat Terumah to the legacy of Dr. Lander.

“Our nation is not a nation but not for the Torah. How do we do it in the 21st century when we have all the influential communications?”

“The trumpets are communicating to call the whole nation to the Torah. We have the radio, the newspaper, and the magazine. Dr. Lander knew how to blow those trumpets,” said Rabbi Lau. “He was a spiritual giant in his accomplishments.”

Chief Rabbi Lau also visited the Lander College for Men and Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim in Queens and concluded the weekend with a fundraiser for the scholarship funds of the Lander Colleges. Hosting the fundraiser at the Lawrence Country Club was Lawrence village mayor Martin Oliner, a member of the Touro Board of Trustees who has also taught at Touro Law School.

“Bernie was brilliant. He had an uncanny ability to analyze and understand the most complicated issues,” Oliner wrote in Nasi Be-Amcha (A Prince Amongst Your People), a book of essays remembering Dr. Lander published by Touro College in conjunction with the event.

In his lifetime, Lander led a college that has grown to 31 locations in 4 states and 5 countries, educating upwards of 18,000 students. But even as Touro expanded, Lander continued to live a modest life.

“Bernie was selfless. He treated every dollar of Touro’s as if it were hekdesh,” said Oliner, using the Hebrew term for funds set aside for charitable purposes.

Speaking to Lander on a daily basis, Oliner recalled a leader who still took the subway to his modest home in Forest Hills well into his 80s, and flew coach when visiting Touro campuses in Europe and California.

“With his perseverance and unrelenting style came a blessing from heaven,” wrote Oliner. “Suggestions that seemed more like smoke and mirrors were blessed with success.”