Rabbi Elijah Ezekiel Zeke Palnick

PALNICK, ROSENFELD, MELTON, GOLLIN, TSACHOR

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 7/3/2009 at 14:48:11

Rabbi Elijah Ezekiel Zeke Palnick, a leading figure of the civil
rights era in Little Rock, Arkansas, died Friday. He was 70. Rabbi Palnick, spiritual leader of Temple B'nai Israel for 23 years, helped integrate the city's civic clubs in the 1960s and welcomed blacks to attend services at the temple. He was president of the Arkansas Council on Human Relations, and a member of the board of the Pulaski County United Fund, the state Arts and Humanities Council, and the Governor's Council on Human Relations. In 1982, he was awarded the Humanitarian Award by the Arkansas unit of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He was a leader in the formation of the Arkansas Conferences of Churches and Synagogues and was a member of its predecessor organization, the Religious Roundtable and the Advisory Council of the Arkansas Conference of Churches and Synagogues. Rabbi Palnick’s involvement with the civil right’s movement is highlighted in The Quiet Voices. Southern Rabbis and Black Civil Rights, 1880s to 1990s. Mark Bauman and Berkley Kalin, Ed.

Rabbi Palnick was born in 1935 in Montreal, Canada, to Lazar Isar Palnick and Chaya Marie Rosenfeld Palnick. He attended McGill University in Montreal, graduated from Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and was ordained from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1959. He received a doctorate of theology degree from Burton Seminary and a doctor of philosophy degree from the Hebrew Union College. He served congregations in Miami Beach and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, before moving to Little Rock in 1963. He moved
to Albany, Georgia, in 1986, where he served at Temple B'nai Israel as Rabbi until 1999 and as Rabbi Emeritus until the time of his death. Rabbi Palnick revitalized the Jewish community in Albany and led the congregation through a time of transition, which included the construction of a new synagogue. He was also very active in civil rights affairs in Southwest Georgia. Rabbi Palnick served on many committees and associations and was highly respected by congregants of all faiths. He also served as president of the Association of Ministers in Albany.

After retiring in 1999, Rabbi Palnick and his wife, Irene, moved to Iowa City, Iowa. He was an active grandparent, attending events at Longfellow Elementary School and Southeast Junior High School. He enjoyed attending and actively participating in discussions at the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Luncheon. Rabbi Palnick also enjoyed serving as chaplain for the Philmount Scout Ranch in New Mexico, which he did continuously since 1964.

He is survived by his loving wife Irene Melton Palnick; son Lazar M. Palnick and daughter-in-law Susanne Gollin; daughter Rachelle Palnick Tsachor and son-in-law Uriel Tsachor; grandchildren, Oren Tsachor, Jacob Palnick and Doron Tsachor; sister Ena Palnick and numerous uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Funeral services for Rabbi Palnick will be held at Agudas Achim Congregation in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 8, at 2 PM. Interment will follow at Agudas Achim Cemetery. The family will identify a charity at a later date for donations in lieu of flowers.