* Louis Finkelstein; Headed Jewish Theological Seminary

Louis Finkelstein, 96, chancellor emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a leading figure among Conservative Jews of this century. Finkelstein headed the seminary, headquartered in New York City, from 1940 to 1972, a period of rapid growth in the Conservative movement, which is centered between the Orthodox and Reform branches of Judaism. During his tenure, the seminary became a major university that included the Cantor’s Institute, the Seminary College of Jewish Music and a West Coast branch that later became the University of Judaism. He also was a major scholar whose interests included the Pharisees, a Jewish sect from which modern Jewish tradition comes, and the Sifra, the oldest rabbinic commentary on the Book of Leviticus. In New York City on Friday.