Rabbi Eric Silver, Interviews with Jews in Utah, Accn 998

Transcript (210 pages) of interviews by Leslie Kelen with Eric Silver in 1986 for the Interviews with Jews in Utah Oral History Project.

Silver (b. 1942) was the subject of seven interviews conducted by Leslie Kelen. In the first interview, Silver talks about his family background, his father's Hasidic upbringing, the pre-World War II immigration of his parents, talks about his own childhood. The next two interviews contain information on Silver's education, his seven years of Naval service (beginning in 1963), his experiences at Hebrew Union College, the spiritual responsibility involved in the rabbinate, and what it meant to go to a reform, rather than conservative or orthodox college. The remainder of the interviews focus on Silver's experiences as a rabbi and on the congregations and people he has served. Topics covered include interfaith marriages, how rabbis are placed, conflicts between reform and conservative components of the community, the "lost generation" of children veering away from their Jewish roots, his evaluation by the board of Kol Ami, the differences between being a rabbi and being a leader, and his decision to leave the congregation Kol Ami after five years. 210 pages.