Alexander Schindler

Alexander Moshe Schindler (October 4, 1925 – November 15, 2000) was a rabbi and the leading figure of American Jewry and Reform Judaism during the 1970s and 1980s. One of the last European-born leaders of American Reform Jewry, he served as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) for 23 years.

Early life, military career, and education Schindler was born on October 4, 1925, in Munich, Germany, and Hannah. He and his family fled the Nazis, first to Switzerland and then to America; Schindler arrived in the United States when he was twelve years old. He was decorated with three combat ribbons for bravery and earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for action in the Apennines of Italy. He married Rhea Rosenblum on September 29, 1956. His efforts are credited with the creation of the Association of Reform Zionists of America.

He served as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in the late 1970s. For his work on the peace process in Israel, he received the Solomon Bublick Award of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In 1995, the book The Jewish Condition: Essays on Contemporary Judaism Honoring Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, a collection of essays edited by Schindler and Aron Hirt-Manheimer, was published. The book contained, among other pieces, Rabbi Margaret Wenig's essay "Truly Welcoming Lesbian and Gay Jews"—the first published argument to the Jewish community on behalf of civil marriage for gay couples.

Schindler died at his home in Westport, Connecticut, on November 15, 2000, from a coronary arrest. At the time of his death he was president of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and vice president of the World Jewish Congress.